There's More To Family Than Fear
by MrGooseyMoose
Summary: In a bid to escape from the abusive Mr Yagami, Tai and his family head out to Odaiba. There, Tai meets a host of new companions and falls for his enigmatic new best friend, Yamato. Things seem to be going great. But Tai isn't safe yet. Taito, AU.
1. Onward To Odaiba

**I need you all to bear with me, as I have a couple of things to go through before we begin. Are you all sitting comfortably?  
**

**Right, first things first: you should know that there are hints, and sometimes detailed descriptions, of severe child abuse throughout the entirety of the story. Furthermore, you will occasionally come up against swearing, suicidal thoughts, sexual references and actions, discrimination and, all in all, nasty things. Don't worry, though. You'll probably come across a lot of silver linings, too.**

**Oh, and one last thing. I'm currently running through this story, from the beginning chapter, and I'm totally overhauling it. The plot and general content will remain the same. The presentation of said content, however, will be much better by the time I'm finished.**

**Hopefully.  
**

**A/N: I have recently popped back to re-write this chapter.**

* * *

The gym exploded with raucous applause as the messy haired brunette, Tai Yagami, landed squarely upon his feet and gave a small, graceful bow. Judging by the overwhelming uproar, Tai's routine had gone over very well with the spectators.

Floating by on the leftover adrenaline that was pumping through his veins, he grinned, and scanned the crowd for a quick sign of his family. He spotted them in the far right corner of the hall. His little sister, Kari, was sat atop his mother's shoulders, and was waving a large banner about that sported the message "We love you Tai!" He smiled just that little bit wider upon seeing them, and retreated into the changing rooms with one last wave of a smooth, tanned hand.

Today was Tai's last day in his hometown. His family, bar his father, had decided that it was time to finally make the move to Odaiba. Over the past few weeks the plans had come to fruition quickly; and damn, was it exciting.

Tai finished undressing and stuffed his gym clothes into his too-small backpack.

Right now, he could only _dream_ about what would be waiting for him when he got there. Blinking lights in every direction, omelette bars on every corner, new people, new places, new smells, sounds and sights. New everything. Even, he hoped, a new Tai.

He pulled on his everyday khaki shorts and star shouldered T-shirt, and wrapped his goggles around his head.

And whilst he was there, he thought, he might even be able to take up a couple of new interests. Surely, new cities came with new distractions?

_***DING***_

"Would all participants please enter the hall to take part in the award ceremony. The results have been finalised."

"That was fast." Tai said to himself, sticking his feet into a pair of fresh socks. He took his shoes in his hand. "I'd better hurry."

When he entered the hall, the other gymnasts were already standing in the centre of the hall. The majority of them were girls, slightly older than Tai was, and most of them were talking together nervously. Tai slipped onto the edge of the group and remained silent. His smile remained firmly on his face.

After another few minutes, a trio of judges got to their feet from behind a desk and called for silence. The centre person, a tall woman with long, black hair, cleared her throat and began reading from a sheet of paper, monotonously. "Three of you young, very fine gymnasts will be receiving medals for your efforts." Tai could have sworn that she was bored. "We would, however, like to express how close the results were. Everyone here should feel proud of what they have produced for us."

She beckoned a hand to her left. The judge on the far end stepped forward holding a bronze medal in his hands, and a wide grin on his face. Time slowed, and he began to reveal a name. It was…a young girl that Tai had never seen before. He sighed, the audience began to clap, and she bounded forward and shook the man's hand. The judge placed the medal around her neck.

The woman with the black hair cleared her throat almost immediately and the applause halted. She beckoned to her right. Standing there was a younger man. He was holding out a silver medal in front of him, and he too had a wide smile on his face – although Tai couldn't help but think that it was forced. The brunette scuffed his feet along the floor beneath him, still not wearing any shoes, and watched as a girl to his left him jumped up and down, screamed in excitement, and ran forward to receive her reward. As before, the two of them shook hands, and the judge placed the medal over the young gymnast's head.

Tai looked down at the floor. This was it: first place, or nothing. The blood in his ears began to pulse, far louder than the centre woman with the black hair and the dull voice. He couldn't fully hear the things that were being mouthed in his direction. Just glimpses of words: "talent", "determination", "against the odds", "inspiration", "proud to present", and "pie" – wait, that couldn't have been right. What did she say? And why was everybody cheering?

"Tai!"

"Wha?" He tilted his head.

"TAI! YAGAMI, TAI!"

"Me?"

The boring judge with the black hair and the dull voice and the inability to talk over Tai's ears was now waving him forward, frantically. A toothy grin crept up his face.

* * *

The next few hours went by very quietly, mainly because the majority of it was spent sitting in the family car. It was a long journey to their new home in Odaiba. Tai was growing agitated. "Are we there yet, Mom?"

"Do we look like we're there yet, Tai?" Mrs Yagami answered, calmly.

"…"

"That's what I thought." She chuckled. "We don't have long left."

"I miss home, Mommy." Kari piped in, quietly.

"I know sweetie."

"And…" Kari began.

"…and I know you miss your friends." Mrs Yagami interrupted. "But you'll make new ones at your new school. Everyone's going to love you."

Kari, it seemed, didn't agree with that reassurance, but was lost for a reply and so stared out of the window to watch the last of the countryside roll past alongside them. A few more minutes went by in silence, until…

"Mom…?"

"Yes, Tai?"

"W-what if…" Tai stopped, and shook his head. It was best not to think about that. "Never mind."

Another hour passed by, and the Yagami car finally found itself pulling up in front of a house. Tai's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets when they parked. "This can't be right, Mom."

"It is."

"But it's…"

"Huge, I know."

"How can we afford this?"

"Well, don't think too much of it…" She began, carefully. "…but a family was butchered here about a year ago. And you know how suspicious people are. They think it's haunted. Anyway, no one else would buy it so we got a great deal."

"Wh-wh-wh…what?" Tai panicked, his jaw dropping to his feet.

"Oh, I'm just kidding Tai." Mrs Yagami giggled, overjoyed at the expression on her son's face. "Come on, it looks like the movers have already been inside and dropped our things off. I hope you guys are ready to work!"

"Yeah, sure…"

They left the car parked beside the pavement and made their way towards their new house. The whole property was bordered by a solid, white fence, and there was a single entry point where a secure, metal gate stood. Mrs Yagami unlocked it and let everybody into the garden.

"Well, welcome to your new home kids." She beamed.

"Wow, we have a balcony!"

"And a porch!"

"And look. The house has two floors! _Two_." Kari emphasised.

"…we really don't need so much space, Mom."

"No, I guess not." She laughed. "But why not have it anyway?"

They walked up the garden path, onto the porch, and stepped up to the front door. "Here we go guys." Mrs Yagami unlocked it, and slowly led her children forward into a wide, airy entrance hall, which happened to be filled with stacks of cardboard boxes. Tai and Kari moaned simultaneously. "Oh, c'mon. You knew this was coming."

"But, we're all tired from the drive up here!" Tai replied with a whine, shuffling his feet about on the wooden flooring.

"Can't we just go look around first?" Kari pitched in, smiling cutely at her mother. "_Please_?"

Mrs Yagami sighed. "Oh, alright. I guess you can have a quick look around. But then we really do need to get moving."

"Ok! Thanks Mom."

"And while you're at it, go and pick out your bedrooms!"

They nodded in reply, and sprinted off towards the staircase with smiles on their faces, leaving their mother behind to shake her head.

The pair chose their rooms quickly. Kari took to a cosy bedroom with pale wallpaper and a bright, fluffy carpet, and Tai took to a slightly larger bedroom, which had a door that led out onto the balcony. The subsequent task of unpacking their things and sorting out their rooms, however, didn't go by quite so fast.

Tai collapsed onto his bed from sheer exhaustion, four hours and some take-out food later, and closed his eyes tight. They had managed to get everything into the right bedrooms, though not everything had found a permanent place, and they had sorted out the kitchen for the most part. The other rooms would have to be finished off another day, though.

As Mrs Yagami had said, three pairs of hands just weren't enough to do a job like this in one night.

"Tai, can I come in?"

Tai raised his head at the voice, and looked at his closed bedroom door. "Sure, come on in."

Kari did as she was told and entered the bedroom, shedding light from the hallway onto the darkened room. "The posters are nice." She offered, motioning towards the newly posted soccer posters that lined one of the bedroom walls almost completely.

"Thanks." Tai nodded in agreement. "So what's up?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"But…?"

"Well, it's just…"

"Spit it out Kari!" Tai laughed, sitting back down on his bed. She did the same.

"Well…I don't know why we're here." She stopped looking down, and raised her head to look into Tai's dark, chocolate brown eyes with her own soft, amber ones. "I know something happened between you, and…well, I don't understand why we're here."

"We're here because of Dad." Tai explained, gently. "He's gonna be out of jail soon, Kari. You know that."

She turned to face her brother. "I know that, but I don't understand why we had to move away. Shouldn't we be there for him when he gets back home?"

Tai sighed, and looked down into his closed hands. They were trembling, slightly. "He…he might be a little angry at us, at first. So it's safest not to let him see us for a while."

"I don't understand, Tai. Why would he be angry?"

"It's hard to explain."

"Oh…" She mumbled, staring down at a blank corner of the bedroom. She was starting to get a bit of a headache. "I miss Dad."

"Me too, sometimes."

"Will we ever see him again?"

"I think so." Tai nodded. "Maybe not for a while though, Kari."

She nodded her head, too, though she didn't really understand what was going on. "Ok."

"Ok." Tai repeated.

Kari gave Tai a small hug, and then got back to her feet. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too." Tai laughed. "We should probably get to bed."

"Ok." She walked back towards the door, and smiled. "See you tomorrow Tai."

"Yeah, you too." Tai smiled, absent mindedly running a hand beneath his shirt and along one of the many thin, red scars that resided there. "Sleep tight."

* * *

The moon was high in the sky, tonight. A cold wind was rustling throughout the city, a torrent of rain was brushing down menacingly against the Yagami residence, and Tai was strewn out across his bed, asleep, and writhing from side to side.

In his dream, he was eleven once again. His mother had gone shopping, and had taken Kari with her. The sun was out. It was calm. Tai was practicing his one-handed handstands outside in the garden for fun, dressed in his favourite blue hoody, having kicked his last soccer ball into the unknown. Everything was normal, until a frighteningly hoarse heckle sounded from behind him.

Tai ignored the laugh. But the laugh grew louder, and fiercer. Still, Tai kept ignoring it. And still, the laugh kept coming, and growing. "You're such a big gay boy!" The voice eventually sneered. "You look like a fairy, Tai."

Mr Yagami moved across the garden and punched Tai in the arm, playfully, but Tai fell over into a crumpled heap of limbs and messy hair. His eyes flashed angrily. "Fight back!"

"No, Dad…"

"Fight back!" He repeated.

"No…"

"Unless you're gay?"

Tai shook. "S-so what if I am?" Tai didn't know why, exactly, he had said that. At the time, he wasn't even sure that he knew what being gay was; but he had admitted to being it, nonetheless, and he had faced the consequences for doing so. He couldn't fully remember what happened next, however. Everything went dark.

"It's ok, sweetie. Everything's gonna be ok." A voice assured him when he re-opened his eyes. Mrs Yagami was holding him in her arms, hoping beyond hope that the ambulance would reach them soon. "He won't get you. I promise. He won't get you."

As those words slipped from her mouth a crash sounded from below, and someone bounded up the stairs towards them, screaming profanities as he broke through their barricade in a flash. Mrs Yagami stood up, and her husband whipped her around the face with a bike chain. She, however, had been expecting something of this nature to happen and, as his weapon connected with her head, her baseball bat connected with his ribcage, forcing him onto the floor. And then the sirens sounded. Louder, and louder.

Tai woke up, here; the same as every other time that he had that dream.

He slowly climbed out of bed, wearing just his dinosaur themed pyjamas, and headed out onto his balcony for some fresh air. It was wet, and it was very cold, but it was soothing.

All of a sudden, though, his ears perked up. Somewhere close by, someone was playing a soft little tune out there in the gale. "A…harmonica?" Tai whispered, leaning forward to look around the neighbourhood for the one playing it. Unfortunately, he couldn't see much, and so instead he just sat back and listened intently as the musician played his heart out. "…maybe they've got a lot on their mind, too." He pondered to himself, wondering how such a beautiful song could be lined with such a lonely cry of emotion. Tai couldn't help himself from connecting with the one playing. It almost felt like someone, out there, was truly as lost as he was.


	2. The Two Collide

**Hey everybody.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**For a list of content warnings, please refer back to chapter one.**

**A/N: I have recently popped back to re-write this chapter.**

* * *

Tai woke up long before anybody else the following morning. Feeling groggy, and rather annoyed about being awake before midday on a weekend, he cooked himself a plate full of eggs and sat down at the table. He didn't get very far through his meal, however, before a sudden buzzing sound shot out through the house. Somebody was calling at the front gate.

He supposed that, really, it was only fair that he go and check on it; even if his body wasn't supposed to be up and functioning yet. He took one last, sad look at his rapidly cooling breakfast, groaned, and headed on outside.

Standing outside the front gate when he got there, hopping impatiently from foot to foot, was an orange haired girl with a cheerful smile. She wore a pale blue hat on her head.

"Hi there!" She exclaimed, as he unlocked the gate and motioned for her to step inside. "I'm Sora! I live right next door, and I thought I should come over and say hi. Gotta spread the neighbourhood love, right?"

Tai stared blankly at her.

She continued. "So, what's your name? I saw you moving in last night from my window, but didn't want to interrupt any of you by coming over so soon. You know, you're really cute." At this Tai's eyebrows shot up into his hair. She laughed. "I thought that would get your attention. So c'mon, say something!"

"Yeah, right." He answered. His features lit up as best as they could for such an early time in the day, and he introduced himself. "My name's Yagami Taichi, but you can call me Tai. It's nice to meet you, Sora."

"Nice to meet you too, Tai." Sora continued. "How old are you?"

"I'm thirteen, how about…" Tai began, apparently answering too slowly.

"Me too!" Sora interrupted. She jumped up and down with glee. "So we should be in some of the same classes!"

"Cool."

"Hey, I've got an idea. How about I show you around the neighbourhood? I'm guessing you don't know anywhere yet."

"Yeah, that could be fun." He nodded.

"Then let's get going! How about…"

"…you show me some nice places to eat? So I know for future reference?" Tai interrupted back, grinning. "Oh, and just so you know. If my breakfast has gone cold whilst we've been stood out here talking, you owe me a new one."

* * *

An hour later, Sora was sat at a table in the local coffee shop, picking away at a chocolate muffin whilst she waited for her new friend to return from the bathroom. "Geez. And I thought _girls_ took a long time…" She mumbled under her breath, checking her watch again.

At that moment a bell sounded behind her, signalling that somebody new had entered the cosy building. She turned around to look at the door. Standing there was a tall, pale-skinned, blonde haired boy. His eyes were a sparkling blue. He began to walk towards her as soon as he saw her.

He sat down silently in front of Sora and parted his lips slightly as if to speak, but was quickly interrupted by the waitress – whom he ordered a small coffee from, without meeting her eyes. He looked into his hands for a few moments after this, which happened to be laid out together in front of him, before partially opening his mouth again. "Morning, Sora."

"Morning, Matt." She replied, gently. He took a few moments to respond to this.

"You're still sticking with the nickname, I see."

"What, you thought I was gonna drop it so soon?" She answered energetically. "Besides, Yamato sounds way too formal."

"Whatever."

"So, how are things today?"

"Oh, y'know. They're still here and there..." He let the end of the utterance drift off, as the waitress from before brought him a small, white cup of coffee, and left it in the middle of the table. Yamato took a small sip, and continued. "…I'm not sure how long I can keep it up, Sora."

"Hey, it'll be ok. Once school starts up and you get back into normal routine, everything will get easier." Sora said enthusiastically. She knew that Yamato was having a lot of trouble recently, and that between being depressed and indifferent, he didn't really have time to think of a solution to his problems. "You'll see, Matt."

Just then, another voice sounded from behind the blonde. "Aww, I've been replaced already?"

Yamato remained still. He knew from the tone and the proximity of the interruption that Sora was being addressed, but he wasn't familiar with the voice. Sora gave the blonde a sympathetic look for a moment, before smirking at Tai.

"Not exactly." She said, and signalled for him to sit down next to her. "Yamato, this is Tai. He's my new next-door neighbour. Tai, this is my best friend in the whole wide world, Yamato."

"Oh!" Tai stuck out his hand, but he received none back in kind and so slowly pulled it back. "…Erm, not big on the human contact? That's cool, then. Let's settle for hi."

"…Hi." Yamato replied, flatly, and closed his eyes. Sora gave him a stern look.

"Yamato, don't be like that." She sighed, and turned towards Tai. "Don't take it personally. He's just not really into new people. He'll warm to you eventually." At that, a shrieking alarm went off from Sora's watch. "Uh-oh, I've gotta get back! I forgot! I'm so sorry guys, I'll just…" She said, reaching into her pocket for a purse.

"Get going. I don't mind paying, Sora." Yamato said, opening his eyes to look up at her. "It's fine, now go on."

"Thanks Matt, you're the sweetest. See ya Tai!" Sora exclaimed.

"See you, Sora. Thanks for showing me around." Tai replied, watching her walk out of the shop and down the street, before sitting in her place to face his new acquaintance. "So…" Tai started, going blank for things to say. Yamato didn't react at all; he sipped some more at his coffee, rubbed his chin for a second, and, quietly, sipped some more. "…You think Sora will mind if I finish this?" Tai asked with a smile, lifting up Sora's muffin. It had hardly been touched. Yamato stared back rather blankly, before his lips curved up into a small smile.

"It's doubtful that she'd care, seeing as though she's not going to be paying for it." Yamato answered, before returning to his drink. Tai took a bite of his new snack; they remained silent for a minute longer.

"Listen, Yamato…I'm sorry that you don't like me, and stuff. And I didn't mean to interrupt you two." Once again Yamato looked up at Tai, and much to Tai's surprise, the blonde smiled some more.

"By the looks of things you two were here first. So, if anything, I was the one interrupting you." He sipped at his coffee one more time, before deciding to finish it off in one gulp. He stood up and reached into his jacket. "And I never said I didn't like you, Tai. I'm just not great at first impressions." He pulled out enough money to pay for the muffin, the coffee and a small tip, and placed it down on the table before heading towards the exit. "See you around."

Tai leaned back in his chair, wordlessly. "Woah…" He said under his breath with a grin. "That was intense." His head tilted to the side, and something caught his eye. A gleam of light was shining from where the blonde haired enigma, Yamato, had just been sitting. Upon closer inspection Tai surmised that it was a small, golden harmonica. It must have slipped out of the blonde's pocket. "Uh oh!" Tai jumped up, grabbed the instrument and hurried out of the door, hoping that he wasn't too far behind his new, potential, friend.

Tai noticed him as soon as he stepped outside. Yamato was walking away very slowly, almost as if he didn't have anywhere to be. Tai jogged in his direction, screaming out in an attempt to grab the boy's attention.

Yamato was halfway across a busy road when he heard Tai's voice calling out. He turned around an inch and the two made eye contact.

Then all of a sudden, Tai became very aware that he was standing in the way of an oncoming truck's front panel. He gasped. The vehicle was moving too fast to stop in time. Tai tried to move, but his legs wouldn't take him anywhere. This was the first time in his life that his body had failed him. And he was going to die for it.

He blinked.

Somehow, though, within the space of that one blink, Tai felt both an inexplicably fierce collision at his side and the rough feel of concrete beneath him. He heard the truck rush by at his side. A second went by quietly, until…

"What the hell were you _thinking_? Are you an idiot, Tai? You were almost killed!"

He looked up at his fuming saviour. "I-I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be. I could have been killed saving your sorry butt!" He sighed, and held out a hand to the brunette. "C'mon, get up."

Tai looked at the outstretched hand for a moment. He didn't take it. Instead, he pulled the harmonica out of his pocket and placed it into Yamato's hand, before lifting himself up without help and dusting himself off. Yamato stood in shock. "Y-you…you realise you almost got yourself killed trying to give me this?"

"Yeah." Tai answered, looking Yamato in the face with a nervous grin. "Seems kinda stupid now."

"Damn right it does." Yamato stared back into Tai's chocolate brown eyes, and wondered how he could possibly remain angry with such a 'nice-in-a-naïve-kinda-way' guy. He shook his head.

"And guess what?" Tai continued. "You may not be great at first impressions, but I've never met someone who gave a better second one."

"Yeah, it's just a shame I can't say the same for you." Yamato laughed under his breath. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, I'm fine. And…thanks. I owe you." Tai smiled, running a tanned hand through his hair. Yamato watched him for a moment.

"Forget it. Come on, I'll walk you home. You live next to Sora, right?" He said, pushing Tai out of his daze and in the direction of his house. Tai just smiled gratefully in answer, and walked closely beside him. "You know." He continued. "I don't live too far away from you."

"You don't?"

"No. And since we're both friends with Sora, I guess we'll probably be seeing each other around."

"Right." Tai nodded. "So that's settled then."

"…what is?"

"We're gonna be friends."

"Oh really? You're awfully confident."

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'm right too."

"And you're bordering on obnoxious."

Tai grinned. "You'll learn to like that about me."

"If you say so." Yamato smirked, and crossed his arms.

"So, Yama…" They turned a corner and found themselves back on Tai's street.

Yamato watched the boy for a moment, before tilting his head ever so slightly to the left. "…Yama?"

"Yeah, Yama." Tai said, winking. "So, are you free to do something today?"

"I guess. I mean…yeah. Why?"

"Well, I wanna invite you in! You can see my new house, and maybe we can find something fun to do."

Yamato nodded in response. "Ok."

"Cool." Tai said. They came to a stop outside his metal gate. "Now we…hmm…"

"What is it?"

"I don't have a key for the gate, and it electronically locks when you don't use it for a while. There must be a buzzer on here somewhere…how'd Sora do it…ah-ha!" Next to the mail slot beside the gate was a small, silver box with a white button in the centre. He pressed it, and from a distance heard the same buzz that had sounded throughout the house earlier that morning. After a minute or so, Mrs Yagami came out towards them, smiling at the sight of her son.

"Tai? I was wondering when you'd be back." She unlocked the gate and let them both in. "And who's this? I thought you said you were going out with the girl from next door?"

"Oh, yeah. Sora. She went home after introducing the two of us. This is Yamato."

"Aaah, hello Yamato." Mrs Yagami offered, smiling at him happily. "Any friend of Tai's is a friend of ours, so feel free to make yourself at home."

"Thank you." Yamato replied, nervously. "It's nice to meet you."

She smiled again. "You too."

"Guess what, Mom? I almost died today." Tai interrupted. "But Yamato saved me." Yamato suddenly become very interested in his feet.

"Oh, my. What happened?"

"I didn't, watch…where I was going…on the road."

"Again?" She sighed. Yamato got the impression that this was a rather often occurrence. "Someday, Tai, you're not going to be so lucky, and you'll get what's coming to you for being such a road safety klutz."

"Ouch, Mom…"

"He's lucky to have you Yamato." She continued, turning towards the blonde. "Why don't you stay 'round for dinner with us later? Would that be ok with your parents?"

"Sure, they don't care what I do." He laughed. Tai and his mother stared at him, confused. "I mean, yes. I'd love to."

* * *

The rest of the day went by fairly peacefully. The pair spent a couple of hours playing with the videogames in Tai's room, which resulted in fairly equal scores. (Tai had been shocked to find that such a 'too cool for his own good, pretty boy' could match him.) Then, they had helped Mrs Yagami to move furniture into and around the living room, which she had promised them take-out pizza for. After that, they left to play soccer out in the garden. Tai found that Yamato wasn't very good at this, though, and so more time was spent having Tai perform cool tricks with the ball than actually playing the game.

When they were eventually done with that, they went inside to rest and found Kari attempting to play on a sleek, black piano that resided in the hall.

"That. Wasn't there an hour ago." Yamato stated.

"Maybe it was in storage." Tai shrugged. "I don't see why we would want it, though. None of us can play."

They stood and watched for a moment, as Kari prodded a key here and there and occasionally pulled her fingers from one end to the other in a stream of sound. Yamato eventually laughed under his breath and stepped forward to lean over her as she sat. "Hey, you want some help?"

Kari looked up at him and nodded her head.

"Ok." Yamato picked up one of her hands and placed them over a set of keys. "Press down with your fingers." She did so, and the clean sound of a chord rang throughout the hall.

"Wow."

"That sounded good, right?" Yamato asked, smiling. He took her other hand, after that, and placed it over another group of keys. She pressed down once more, and another clean sound rang out. "Shall we keep going?"

"Yeah!"

"Great." Yamato nodded. Throughout the next couple of minutes he positioned her hands up and down and all around the piano, and somehow a recognisable tune began to form. It sounded like an old classic, Tai thought. One that he'd forgotten the name to.

"Hey, Kari. How old are you?" Yamato asked, placing her left hand on a final set of notes, which she pressed down on, completing the song.

"I'm nine and a half!" Kari replied, puffing her chest out in pride. "But I'll be nine and three quarters soon!" Both Tai and Yamato grinned at this. Tai did so because he'd never heard someone refer to their age with such an attempt at precision, and Yamato did so because he had, in fact, heard someone refer to their age in the exact same way.

"Really?" Yamato asked. "Well, my lil brother, Takeru, is the same age as you. Only, he's closer to nine and_ one_ quarter. So really, you're a bit older. Maybe you'll meet him someday."

"Yo, I hate to break up the conversation you two have going…." Tai interrupted, walking closer to them. "…but I have a very important request."

"…what?"

Tai looked up at Yamato with the biggest, brightest puppy dog eyes that he could muster. "Can I play piano too?"

"How can I resist such charm." Yamato sniggered, rolling his eyes.

"Ok. I'm gonna go watch some T.V." Kari said, standing up and leaving in a suspiciously speedy manner.

"…wha?" Yamato asked, confused. "Did we upset her?"

"I don't think so."

"Why do I feel like we just took her toy away from her?"

"Trust me, Yamato. If she had wanted to play with this, we couldn't have taken it away from her." Tai laughed. "She's tougher than I am."

"If you say so…" He mumbled, watching Tai sit down and prod at some of the keys. "You know, you're not exactly a gifted musician, Tai."

"Well, we can't all be perfect like you Yamato."

"I thought my nickname was Yama?"

"Oh yeah." He paused. "We can't all be perfect like you, Yama."

"Well, maybe not."

"And I thought_ I_ had a big ego…" Tai grinned.

"But maybe I can still help you out, so it won't sound like you're strangling a kitten in here."

"You don't exactly fill me with confidence."

"C'mon, you're little sister could do it."

"She's smarter than me."

"Then you'll just have to try extra hard. C'mon, put your fingers…" He took Tai's fingers and placed them over a set of keys. "…there, and press down."

Tai huffed, but did as he was told. A unfamiliar, clean chord sounded, and echoed throughout the house. "Huh."

"See? It's easy."

"Fine, puppet master. Play me a song."

"If you insist." Yamato answered. He took Tai's hands and positioned them around the piano, just as he had done with Kari previously. This time, however, Tai didn't recognise the tune that began to unfold.

"What's the song called?" Tai asked, after a minute or so of playing passed.

"It doesn't have a title. I've not finished it yet."

"You_ wrote_ this?" Tai gasped.

"Yeah."

"Wow, dude. You really are a genius, aren't you?"

"I do what I can." He shrugged.

Tai laughed. "And so modest."

"Hey, I'll take a compliment when I can." Yamato laughed back, absently stroking one of Tai's hands as he moved it. Tai's heart raced for a second, before he realised that it was probably just an accident.

"Will you play it for me when you've finished it?"

"Sure. You provide the piano, I'll provide the song."

"Cool." Tai said, pulling a hand back and ruffling through his wild, brown hair. "Y'know, it sounds kind of sad."

"Yeah. It does."

"Is it supposed to be?"

"I guess so. I mean, if I write sad songs it normally makes me feel better."

"Why? Are you sad?"

"Not right now."

"But you are other times?"

"Yeah. Sometimes. Who isn't?" Yamato said. He sounded nonchalant, but when Tai turned around to look at him he thought that the pale boy looked almost uncomfortable. He dropped the subject.

"C'mon, let's go watch T.V."

They headed out into the living room and collapsed onto the large, cushy sofa that stood bare in front of the television. Kari was already in there, sat on a cheap looking, damaged armchair, and she had a notepad and pen in her hands. Her eyes were fixated on the paper most of the time, but they occasionally flickered towards the pair of boys who were chattering away at each other.

They had turned on a high-speed car chase, and were giving their own full-blown commentaries of what was happening. Each special car manoeuvre or violent crash resulted in a loud gasp, laugh, or mixture of the two.

Tai hadn't ever had a friend to invite home and spend the day with before, and now that he finally did, he realised that it might just have been the best thing in the world that one could ever do with their time. Yamato made him feel happy. And excited. And excited to be so happy and excited. And...!

Tai carefully slipped a hand into his pocket and attempted to conceal his erection.

It was occurring to Tai that, after being saved from a speeding truck, after having his hands groped mercilessly and after sitting thigh to thigh, occasionally getting to observe that the boy next to him smelled very nice, he may in fact be falling for the first friend that he had ever invited home and spent the day with.

It wasn't all that much of a shock, really. Tai knew that he liked other boys. It was just awkward, since Yamato had offered no signals to suggest that he may be the same way.

But maybe he could still ask, to be sure...?

Tai carefully slipped a hand into his second pocket and attempted to conceal his erection further.

No. He should listen to his brain, not his penis. He just wanted to be best friends. Anything else would cause problems.

Besides, Tai thought. Yamato was cool, talented and mysterious. Why would he want Tai? Tai, after all, was about as mysterious as….

_**Bzzzz!**_

"Pizza's here!" Kari shouted, jumping up from her seat and running off to fetch her mother. Tai and Yamato looked at each other blankly, before jumping up simultaneously and following Kari out into the hall.

Tai would soon find that they had something in common: they each had the appetite of a large animal.

* * *

Half an hour later and, feeling better fed than he'd been in a long time, Yamato prepared to go home. Mrs Yagami had assured him, once again, that he was always welcome to come around and see them. Yamato had reassured her that he would take her up on that offer, and that they'd soon be sick of him. Tai had disagreed, though only in his head. He didn't want to give off any unwanted signals.

They were standing in the garden with the gate wide open, when Yamato carefully opened his lips to speak. He seemed to have regained a little bit of his previous shyness. "Erm…Tai. Thanks for everything today. It really, y'know. It meant a lot to me." Tai gawped at him, resulting in a nervous laugh from Yamato. "Don't look at me like that Tai, I'm serious!"

"Ok, ok. And you don't need to thank me." Tai replied, ruffling Yamato's hair. Yamato's eyes went wide. "Aww don't give me that look, it's only hair."

"It is not_ only_ hair. It's my pride and joy!" Yamato replied, sounding slightly hurt. Tai held a hand to his mouth to stifle his sniggering.

"Well, I think you look pretty good with your hair messed up." Tai said, more flirtatiously than he'd planned. "I mean, er…"

"…really?" Yamato replied, nervously. "You think so?"

"I know so."

"That was the cheesy, dude." Yamato laughed.

"Yeah, sorry." Tai shrugged with an awkward smile. "Will I be seeing you at school?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I could come and pick you up tomorrow morning, if you want. I call on Sora before school every day anyway. It'd make good sense to grab you as well." Yamato asked, going slightly red in the cheeks. He didn't attempt to hide it, though. Tai didn't call him on it either.

"That'd be great. Then you can show me where to go." Tai said, positively glowing with excitement.

"Cool." Yamato nodded. "I'll see you then, then." He took a couple of steps back, before turning around and striding away down the street.

"Y'know, Yamato…" Tai whispered, drooling to himself." You look pretty good when you walk away..." He put his hand back into his pocket, again, attempting to hide the rapidly growing bulge that resided there, and he strolled back towards his house, wearing the biggest smile that he'd ever worn to date.


	3. Reality Hits Home

**Hi again.**

**For full content warnings, please refer back to chapter one.**

**A/N: I have recently popped back to re-write this chapter.**

* * *

A sharp clacking sound rattled throughout the apartment as Yamato closed his front door behind him. It had been another late night, tonight; another late night with nothing but himself and his old harmonica to keep him company. He yawned.

Judging by the snores that were emanating from somewhere ahead of where he stood, and from the thick, sickly odour of cheap alcohol that lingered upon the ever-stagnant air around him, Yamato's parents were both out like drunken light bulbs.

"Hmph…" Yamato frowned. "…you guys had better wake up with a hangover."

At the sullen command of his growling stomach, the blonde tiredly headed into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, ignoring the unknown green stain that currently ran along the side of it. There was nothing to be found inside. He bent down to try a couple of the cupboards, too, knowing before he opened them that they would also be empty. They were.

Perhaps his parents were saving their money for things that were more important than food. Such as intoxicating substances.

At that thought, Yamato heard a rough choking sound come from his parents' bedroom, and some sort of hasty, frantic scuffling. And then…nothing. Nothing but that same rising and falling snoring, once more. He sighed, gratefully, and straightened up. He would have to give up on his quest for food tonight. Perhaps Tai could give him some leftover pizza tomorrow morning if he asked nicely.

He left the kitchen and walked down the corridor towards his bedroom, feet unexpectedly clattering about atop the solid flooring.

"Damn it…!" He whispered to himself in a flurry of panic, squinting his eyes.

Had he been heard?

No. It didn't feel like he had. No one had called out his name. No one had got out of bed. No one had done anything rash. Another moment of peaceful, drunken snoring passed on by. And still nothing. No. No one had heard him. He must have got away with it. Mentally jibing himself for not doing so earlier, he pulled off his shoes and tip toed on socked feet towards his bedroom, stretching out a hand for his door knob as he went.

And then his foot buckled over a smooth, bottle shaped object and, unable to retain his balance, he fell to the floor knee first and let out a half yelp. He shoved his hands over his unsteady mouth, but was too late to muffle the noise. Another rough, choking sound sprang from his parents' bedroom in response, followed by low, uneven muttering and the sound of someone struggling to get out of bed. Yamato silently whined.

"Yamato?"

The blonde didn't reply. With a deep breath, he got to his feet and limped towards his door, one hand placed against the wall at his side for support.

"Is that you out there, Yamato?"

He stretched out his spare hand, and reached towards his door knob. He would get there first, before his mother could reach him. He _had_ to.

"Yamato. Answer me."

The light bulb overhead lit up the corridor with a dull, orange glow all of a sudden, and Mrs Ishida exhaled noisily.

"Where have you been?"

Yamato ignored his mother. He grasped at his door handle, twisted, and pushed the door open before hobbling inside.

"Don't ignore me, Yamato."

He closed the door behind him.

"I _said_…!" She rose her voice, striding up to his door and slamming her palms up against it. "Don't ignore me, Yamato!"

The pale faced boy wiped a silent tear from the corner of his eye.

"Open up. Now!" Mrs Ishida slammed the door again, this time with more force. Yamato sat down in front of it and tensed up his body. His knee protested against the action. "Right now, Yamato. So we can talk!"

Not going to happen.

"If you don't do as I say!" She threatened. "I'll go and get your father! And you know he'll be angry if I have to wake him up because of you."

He wiped another tear from his eye, and breathed in deeply. Yes, he thought in reply. Of course he knew that. They had been through this many times before, after all.

"I'm _warning _you!"

He ran a hand over a fading, dull bruise on his left side and swallowed almost unnoticeably. It might soon have a new companion.

* * *

Tai could not believe it.

It was something o'clock in the morning; it was very, very dark outside; he was already, most definitely, awake long before he should be, and there was some idle figure sat outside his front gate, legs illuminated by an overhead streetlamp. Legs that didn't really look like they belonged to an adult. Curiosity riled, Tai hurriedly grabbed a key from a hook by the door and snuck out of the house to investigate further.

Upon stepping outside Tai heard a sort of strangled whimper travel along the frigid, early morning breeze towards his ears. His mouth felt rather dry all of a sudden. "Hello…?" He whispered. No answer came to him. Tai stepped down from the porch and walked along the garden towards the front gate. He tried again, this time with more volume. "Hello?"

The crying stopped.

"Are you ok?"

"Wh-who's there?"

Tai froze. Somehow, he recognised that voice. "Y-Y-Yam…?"

"Never mind. I'm leaving."

"Yamato?" Tai finished, looking down through the gate at the figure on the other side, who was awkwardly getting to his feet. "Is that you?"

"…Tai?" Yamato asked, dropping the defensive tone in his voice. He rubbed his eyes dry with the sides of his fists. "What are you doing here?"

Tai stared back at him, a flash of disbelief crossing his eyes.

"Right." Yamato scratched his head. "You live here. Sorry."

"Yeah." Tai replied, sticking a key into the gate and opening it. "What are you doing here, Yama? Do you know how early it is?"

Yamato didn't reply for a moment, instead opting to look down at his feet as they shuffled about along the pavement beneath him. Then, as Tai took a step forward and opened his mouth to add something else, the blonde leapt across the space between them in one stride and latched onto him, choking strangled words of apology into his shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright Yamato."

"N-no, it's _not_." He cried. "I sh-shouldn't have come h-h-here. I didn't mean to d-drag you outside when it's so c-c-cold…!"

"Dude. Do you see me complaining?" Tai smiled, rubbing Yamato's back gently. They awkwardly sideways walked, still caught in an embrace, towards the Yagami residence.

Yamato trembled, gratefully. "How did you know I was here?"

"I saw you from the kitchen window."

"So I didn't w-wake you?"

"You? Geez, you couldn't have woken me if you'd broken into my room and got in my bed." Tai laughed. "I was making breakfast."

At that, the gate between them squeaked and came to a close all on its own. Yamato pulled away from his friend. He had a blank expression on his face.

"W-what's with the gate?"

"I dunno. But it's kinda nifty, right?"

"I guess." He said through a sniffle. "Can we go inside? I'm f-freezing my butt off out here."

"Sure. C'mon."

Tai took the opportunity to clasp a hand around his crush's hand, softly yet firmly, and walk him back inside. Yamato didn't react negatively to the contact. In fact, he tightened the grip.

Once they were inside, and in the living room, Tai wrapped a fluffy, blue blanket around the ice cold Yamato, and pushed him down onto the couch. He didn't attempt to ask Yamato why he was there, again. Instead, he just sat down next the trembling boy and they remained there together in silence. Long, awkward minutes dragged by. Occasionally Yamato would cry to himself a little, warranting a hand around the shoulder from Tai. Other times, the blonde would just close his eyes for a while and lean back, seemingly, instantaneously, asleep.

It was during one of those many latter moments that his mouth finally opened. "I know you don't understand. And I know it's only fair that I open up, or whatever. Y'know, since you've invited me in."

Tai nodded, unsure of what to say.

"It's just that, I'm not really sure how to say this. I've only really ever told Sora this kind of thing, and even she doesn't know the full story."

"Uh huh."

"And it wouldn't be fair to just dump this all on you." Yamato turned to face his friend. Blue eyes met sharp brown. "I mean, we've only really known each other for one day."

"It's ok. Really."

"I can trust you?"

"You can trust me."

"...o-ok." Yamato shuddered. He suddenly pulled up his shirt, and he threw it to the floor with a shaky, pale white hand.

Tai's eyes raked over his friend's body, and his eyebrows lowered. Bruises of different shapes, sizes and colours were dotted up and down the blonde boy's torso. One in particular, near the right shoulder, looked brighter. It was recent. "Yamato." He asked with a tone similar to that of a growl. "Who did this to you?"

"My par…" Yamato started, but choked up halfway through the second word.

"Your what?"

"My…" He halted again.

"C'mon, Matt. Spit it out. This is important. Who…?"

"You think I don't know how important this is?" Yamato shouted, getting to his feet. "But it…it's _hard_, Tai. I can't just come out with it!"

"Why not?"

"Because, it's…"

"What?"

"It's…!"

"_What_?"

"It's my parents. Ok? My parents!" He closed his eyes and balled up his fists. "My...parents."

Tai's face dropped into a look of severe apprehension. "Your…parents?"

"Yes."

"They did this to you?"

Yamato nodded.

"No one else knows?"

"Sora knows that something is wrong. And that my parents aren't right. But that's it."

"How long has this been happening, dude?"

"I don't remember." He shook his head. "A year. Maybe."

A few moments passed by quietly, before Tai spoke up. "You can't stay there."

"Where?"

"With your parents. I won't let you go back there."

"But I have nowhere else to go, Tai. My Grandma can't take me because her house is too small, and she already has my little brother to take care of."

"What about Sora?"

"Her father hates me. I can't go there."

"Her father _hates _you?" Tai asked, outraged. A spark of reckless courage lit up behind his eyes, as if he intended to storm over to Sora's house that instant and reduce Sora's father into a smouldering pile of ashes. But he clearly decided against doing so. For now.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"The same reason my parents hate me, Tai. Because…" He hesitated. "…because I'm g-gay."

Tai blinked a few times, confused. "…so?"

"What do you mean, 'so'?"

"I mean, so what? Why do they care?"

"You mean…_you_ don't care?" Yamato held his breath, afraid to exhale.

"Why should I care? That's a stupid reason to hate someone. Or to hurt someone."

"Really?"

"Really. Besides…" Tai shrugged. "…I'm the same way. I'm gay, too."

"Y-you…you are?"

"Yeah." Tai nodded, passing off Yamato's shocked expression with a wave of the hand. "Anyway, about your living situation. We need to get you out of your parent's place. And fast. I'm gonna ask my Mom if you can stay with us."

"What?" Yamato stuttered, unsure if he'd heard correctly. "No, please don't. I couldn't impose on you guys like that, Tai. I just couldn't…"

"It's no imposition!" Tai interrupted. "Just look at this place Yama. It's practically empty! A fourth person living here would hardly make a difference!"

"The space isn't the problem, Tai." He explained. "What about everything else? If I leave my parents, I can't rely on them for anything. They won't pay your mom for the stuff I need in everyday life, and they won't sort out any details with anyone…it wouldn't be fair on any of you. Least of all your Mom."

"I know, Yama. Nothing about this is fair. But you know what? You have a chance to be helped, right now. And it may not be totally fair on my Mom, but it's still the fairest thing that's come your way in a long time. It's a chance you should take. I won't let you pass it by."

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts! You're gonna stick around here until it's time to go, we're gonna go to school, then we're both gonna come back here and talk it out with my mom. Alright?" Tai asked, in a tone that said the question was completely rhetorical. "I don't wanna make any promises…but I know my mom. She'll be more forceful about this than I a-"

In an unlikely flash, Yamato placed a hand around Tai and kissed him.

"…ngh?" Tai asked through his friend's lips.

Yamato took a panicked step backwards. "I'm...sorry, Tai." He replied, shakily. "I shouldn't have done that. Forget about it. I just got caught up. I didn't mean..."

"Maybe I don't want to forget about it."

Yamato froze. "What?"

"I said..." Tai licked his lips, absently. "Maybe I don't want to forget about it."

The two boys edged closer towards each other again, this time far more slowly. Yamato's breath caught in his chest. Their noses touched for the smallest second.

"You're s-sure?" Yamato whispered.

Tai waited until his lips were all but touching the blonde's before answering, more quietly than he had ever spoken before. "_Positive_."

* * *

Lying on the armchair next to the two boys was a small, tattered notebook, which Kari had been relentlessly drawing in the previous evening, and seemingly forgotten to take back upstairs with her. Inside it was a picture of Tai and Yamato sitting together on a hill, with one's head resting comfortably on the other's shoulder. The skies above them were bright, and bold, and blue. The skies ahead, though, were darkened by a lingering storm.

* * *

**Thank you for continuing to spend your time with this story. It's appreciated. **

**It really, really is.**


	4. Stay With You

**Hey.**

**Nice to have you back again.**

**All of my warnings can be located in chapter one. **

**A/N: I have recently popped back to re-write this chapter.**

* * *

Sora rushed out of the kitchen with one school shoe on her foot and the other in her hand. She could hear a set of familiar, raised voices bickering by her front door.

"What's going on here?" She asked with a huff when she reached the source of the disturbance. Her father was stood in the doorway, his usual kindly smile replaced by gritted teeth and a clenched jaw.

"I thought I told you _last_ time, Sora." He grunted. "I can't allow him to show up here anymore."

"I know, Dad. I told him. But that doesn't mean you can't just…" She cut off with a surprised 'oh' at the sight of her best friend. His face was tense, and he was biting his lip. And a certain other boy, with bright eyes and raucous hair, was holding onto his hand.

"Never mind, dad. We're gonna be late for school. We can talk about this later." Sora said, calmly, before leading her two friends away from the house and out onto the street.

"Y'know, Sora." Yamato began, scratching his head with his free hand. "You're supposed to wear your shoes, not carry them around."

"Don't." She warned, prodding her shoe into his chest. He winced and recoiled. "What do you think you're doing? Do you know how much trouble I'm going to be in when I get home later?"

"Oh." Matt rubbed his chest mildly, and winced again. "Sorry. I guess we didn't think about that."

"You _guess_?"

"Don't blame Yama, Sora." Tai piped in. She turned her glare towards him instead, but he stood his ground. "I made him do it."

"You made him?"

"Yeah. And no offence, but your Dad's got issues."

"_He's_ got issues?" She prodded Tai with the shoe, threateningly, resulting in a series of giggles from a group of passing students.

"Yeah." He nodded, stubbornly. "How can he hate Yama for being gay, Sora?"

"He doesn't _hate_ Matt…"

"It sure seems like it to me." Yamato interrupted, quietly.

"…he's just uncomfortable about him. Besides, walking up to my house holding hands isn't exactly going to change his mind, guys."

"Why? Did we really look that threatening?" Tai asked sarcastically.

"To him? Who knows? Maybe you did."

"Then I was right. Your Dad does have issues, Sora."

"Tai. Drop it." Yamato interrupted. "Look. We're sorry, Sora."

"Yeah, whatever…" She muttered, lowering her weapon and placing it around her foot. "…you two realise you're still holding hands, right?"

"Yeah." Yamato nodded.

"Fine."

"Don't you wanna know why?" Tai bounced up and down, grinning.

"It doesn't take a genius to guess Tai."

"So you don't have a problem with it?"

"Of course I don't. But if you guys attract unwanted attention by walking around in each other's arms, then you're only going to be proving my Dad right. He thinks hanging around with you is going to get me killed."

"Point taken." Yamato said, gently removing his hand from Tai's. Sora moved in between them and took them both by the hand, nothing left to say, and smiled. They finally set off up the street towards their school.

* * *

Mrs Yagami stopped her car in the school driveway and turned to look at her daughter, who was looking increasingly nervous. "Are you feeling ok, dear?"

"Yeah, Mommy. I'll be ok." Kari replied. Her lips curve into a smile and her eyes radiated resolve. She opened the car door. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kari. Have a good time at school, and I'll be here to pick you up later." Mrs Yagami replied.

Kari stood quietly for a moment in the breeze. "If he finds us…"

"I've been telling you all morning, dear." Mrs Yagami answered, softly. "He won't. Ok?"

"But, in my dream..."

"He wont." She interrupted. "Now go on, we don't want you to be late on your first day."

Kari nodded, and closed the door at this, gently skipping along the winding path towards the main entrance with her notebook in hand. Mrs Yagami placed her hand on her head and sighed.

* * *

Upon reaching the school's main hall the trio were hurriedly given their individual timetables and told to find their correct home rooms as, unexpectedly, they were running rather late.

"Hey, Tai." Yamato said, looking over at the brunette's timetable. Somehow one of the corners had already been torn. "It looks like we'll be in the same place."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We got the same home room."

"That's great. What about you Sora?" Tai smiled, turning to face the red head.

Sora smiled, too, but she shook her head at him. "Sorry. You guys are gonna have to survive on your own."

"Oh." Tai frowned. "Are you gonna be ok?"

"Sure. Besides, we'll still be in some of the same classes." She pointed out. "So don't worry. We'll see each other around."

"I guess…"

"Anyway, we had better get moving." Sora continued. The corridor around them was already devoid of other students. "We're running late as it is."

"Yeah, you're right."

"And I'll meet you at the usual place for lunch Matt."

"Sure."

"You too, Tai. See you later." She waved, and then she was around the corner and gone. Yamato and Tai glanced at each other.

"Come on, Tai. Let's go."

The pair made their way through the school until they found themselves standing outside a bulky, wooden door, which sported the code "A3". Yamato gave Tai a reassuring smile and pushed it open. Tai followed him inside. The room looked bright but smelled musty, and the unmistakeable hum of an absent teacher was the only thing to greet them upon entry.

"Guess he must be late…" Yamato said, with a shrug of his skinny shoulders. He pointed over to a table in the far corner. "C'mon, let's sit over there. It's the only table with any space left." A small, red haired boy resided where Yamato was pointing. On his back was a post-it note, which said "Izzy is a nut job!"

Tai sat down opposite the red haired boy, who immediately rose to his feet and took a step backwards in response. Yamato laughed quietly.

"Is there a...problem?" Tai asked, confused.

"No…no…" Was the reply; short and simple. Still, the boy didn't move from where he stood. Tai got to his feet again, too, unsure of what was happening.

"Izzy. You have something on your…" Yamato smiled, stretching his hand out towards the boy. He removed the post it note and threw it easily into the bin. "…back."

"Oh." The boy named Izzy said. "Thank you."

Yamato smiled. "So, where would you like us to sit?"

Izzy slowly lifted both arms, with each hand pointing to a different position at the table. Tai uncertainly moved to one position and, being careful not to nudge the red head as he walked past, Yamato sat at the other. Izzy sat down on his own chair once more. They were now sat in a perfect, symmetrical, triangle shape.

"I…don't understand." Tai admitted.

Yamato laughed. "Just roll with it Tai."

"Tai stands for Taichi, correct?" Izzy interrupted, shooting his head up to face the brunette. He stared quietly.

"Yeah, that's right." Tai answered, slightly taken aback. "I'm Taichi Yagami."

"And you're Yamato Ishida?" Izzy interrupted again, this time turning his head to look towards Yamato. "I remember you from last year, though we have never spoken before now."

"Yeah. That's righ-"

"Quiet, please!" An abrupt, posh voice interrupted.

At that, everybody went silent and turned to face the door. A skinny, balding man had entered the room. He cheerily shuffled his hands about inside his cardigan, and pulled out a small marker pen, before throwing it directly at Tai.

"Agh!" Tai jumped up and caught it. He wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed about yelling, or smug for catching something when given so little warning, so he just stared blankly. The man smiled at him.

"Nice reflexes…Taichi, yes? Or would you prefer Tai?"

"Tai please, sir."

"Alright then, Tai it is. And no need to be so formal. You can call me Michael. Everybody else does. Although, if any other teachers are about, call me Mr Horn." He smiled, and made his way to the front of the class to sit down. "So, then, as you have the magical pen of wonders, you can start the class off. Would you care to tell us something about yourself?"

"Erm…well, I…" Tai stuttered in reply.

Mr Horn chuckled. "Why don't you tell us some of your hobbies? What are you good at?"

"Well…"

"He's an exceptionally gifted gymnast. He was on the news yesterday." Izzy said, with a very 'matter of fact' tone, before tilting his head in Tai's direction. "Would that be a good place to start, Taichi?"

"Sure." Tai smiled. "I won a competition in my hometown a couple of days ago, just before I moved here. But no one told me I was on the news…"

"He's also got some mad soccer skills." Yamato said, with a wink in Tai's direction.

"Yeah. Soccer is my favourite sport." Tai replied, rolling the pen in Yamato's direction. He obviously didn't have anything else to say on the matter.

"I see. Thank you, Tai. So that you know, we have teams for you to apply both your news-worthy gymnastic ability and your mad soccer skills to. I'm sure Yamato will help you apply." He turned to face Yamato. "Speaking of which, it's nice to see that you're still standing, Ishida. You looked half dead in your art lessons last year."

Yamato shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well..."

"As your home tutor for this year I'm going to be paying extra special attention to you. And I'm available outside of lessons if you need to discuss anything." They stared at each other for a moment, before he continued. "So, do you have any hobbies we don't know about?"

"You mean apart from music? No, not really."

"Well, then, tell us about that."

"…fine." Yamato sighed, and gave the marker pen a slight squeeze. "I play the guitar and piano pretty well, and I'm learning how to make a harmonica sound ok."

"Really? How do you ever find the time to learn, Yamato?"

"I had nothing better to do as a kid." He stated, monotonously.

"If you say so. Good job. You've come out of your shell a bit since the last time I saw y…"

"He also sings, don't you Yamato Ishida?" Izzy interrupted, again.

Yamato looked taken aback. "How do you kno-"

"Is that so?" Mr Horn asked, warmly. "Then perhaps a performance is in order?"

"No. Thanks." Yamato replied. The rest of the class began to laugh.

"Surely you don't suffer from stage fright?" The teacher asked, ignoring the antics of the other students. "I'm assuming that a boy so dedicated to music is looking to perform at some point in his life? This could be a good way to get started. We have an assembly later, and we need some entertainment."

Yamato shrugged his shoulders, and rolled the pen towards Izzy. Izzy stopped it with both middle fingers, balanced it upright in front of him, and took in a deep breath.

"I'm Koushiro." He exhaled heavily and, content that he was finished, began to pick up the pen and give it to someone else.

"Sit down, Koushiro. What else can you tell us?" Mr Horn asked. He placed the pen back in its original position, and continued.

"…you can call me Izzy."

* * *

When lunch rolled around, and when they'd gathered up Sora, Yamato did as had been suggested by Mr Horn and took Tai to the gym to apply for a sports team. Tai lookd to be apprehensive.

"Are you excited Tai?" Sora asked, ruffling his hair softly.

"Yeah. I guess. I just hope they let me try out."

"Why wouldn't they?" Yamato exclaimed, rubbing the brunette on the shoulder. "Didn't you just win a competition for this stuff a few days ago?"

"Yeah, but…" He shrugged, and came to a stop outside a set of double doors.

"C'mon, be optimistic." Yamato said, pulling a cheesy, toothy grin.

"I'll try." Tai laughed. "But I wanna go in on my own. Will you guys wait for me here?"

Sora smiled. "Sure."

"Go ahead." Yamato nodded.

Tai entered through the doors alone, and found himself stepping into a large gymnasium. It didn't take long for him to locate one of the staff. There was a tall, short haired woman in the corner, writing hectically on a clipboard.

"Erm, excuse me?"

"What is it? I'm busy." She replied impatiently.

"Sorry to bother you." Tai answered. "I was just wondering if there's anyone I can talk to about joining a gymnastics team."

"Yes. That would be me. And we have a couple of spaces available." She halted. "But you can't join."

"Why not?" Tai exclaimed in shock, causing her to look up from her notes.

"Isn't it obvious? You're a boy."

"Yeah, so?"

"We only run a _female_ gymnastics team." She finished and looked back down at her clipboard. She clearly wasn't expecting a reply, so Tai didn't give one. He just backed out of the building, slowly.

"That was…fast." Sora said, upon seeing him exit the gym. "What happened?"

"She said I…where's Yama?"

"Matt? He went off with some kid. Said Mr Horn wanted to see him. He told me to congratulate you on making the team, though." She answered, oblivious to Tai's frown.

"Whatever." Tai huffed. "C'mon, let's go eat."

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Michael?" Yamato asked, anxiously.

"Yes, Yamato." Mr Horn said, as he took an old, electric guitar from the blonde and placed it on a stand. "You need to get out in public and do this sort of thing. It's good practice. You might as well take the chance when you can."

"I guess." Yamato sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

* * *

When Tai made his way back to his home room he found that Yamato wasn't back yet. The only person in the room, in fact, was Izzy. "Hey, Izzy…where is everyone?"

"They're all in the assembly hall. Mr Horn put up a notice on the door, but I had a feeling you'd walk straight in without noticing it. No offence intended, Taichi. I decided to stay back and wait for you to show up."

"Oh, thanks…I think?" Tai replied with a smile. "Lead the way, Izz."

"It's Izzy." He corrected. "And keep up, I walk fast."

The boys reached the assembly hall in no time at all. Izzy really did walk rather quickly, true to his word. The lights were dimmed, most of the students were seated and music was being played through the speakers in the ceiling. Izzy led them to a couple of spare seatd on the front row, and they sat down.

"Where's Yamato?" Tai thought, agitated. "Stupid scatter-brained musician! Who goes and abandons their new friend on the first day of school?"

At that thought, the lights on the stage brightened up and a pale, blue eyed boy stepped forward confidently, with a red guitar hanging from a strap around his neck. He stood steady as a rock. Tai swallowed his previous thoughts and found a new one: Yamato was _hot_.

"Hi, everyone." He said levelly into the microphone. The music stopped. "Looks like I'm up first…I hope you enjoy the show." He closed his eyes, and after a few deep breaths, began strumming along on his guitar. "This is called Stay with you."

"_These streets turn me inside out.  
Everything shines, but leaves me empty still.  
I'll…I'll burn this lonely house down,  
If you run with me!  
If you run with me!"_

Tai didn't recognise the song, and assumed that it was probably just some foreign piece of meaningless rock music that the blonde had picked up on in an attempt to be cultured, or something. But nonetheless he found it particularly exciting. His Yamato – yes, _his_ Yamato – was standing on a stage and performing in front of an audience. And he was a natural at it.

"_And I'll stay with you!  
The walls will fall before we do!  
So take my hand now, we'll run forever,  
I can feel the storm inside you!  
I'll stay with you!"_

No matter how hard he grimaced, and bickered, at the kids around him, Izzy simply could not stop the insanity that had spread throughout the hall. The audience had commenced waving their arms in a pattern that was out of synchrony!

"_Am I fooled by my own desire?  
I twist my fate just to feel you.  
And you, you turn me toward the light,  
And you're one with me.  
Will you run with me?"_

Mr Horn gave Yamato a wide smile and two thumbs up when he looked in his direction, and his eyes gleamed happily. He may not have been very gifted with a paintbrush, the man thought, but boy could he sing.

"_And I'll stay with you!  
The walls will fall before we do!  
So take my hand now, we'll run forever,  
I can feel the storm inside you!  
I'll stay with you!"_

Sora got to her feet and began to cheer, pulling up the two students on each side of her. One of them wore a pink hat, and the other had blue hair. Both were happy to commence fully body swaying.

"_Now, come in from this storm  
I taste you sweet and warm.  
Take what you need,  
Take what you need ,  
From me!"_

"_Now, wake up this world.  
Wake up tonight,  
And run to me  
Run to me no-w!"_

Yamato had never felt so confident, and so self-reliant, and so _cool_. The crowd was well and truly his. He gave a quick wink to Tai, a slight wave to Sora and a soft nod to Mr Horn, and put everything he had into his final chorus. It was time to really sing his heart out.

"_And I'll stay with you!  
The walls will fall before we do!  
So take my hand now, we'll run forever,  
I can feel the storm inside you.  
I'll stay with you!  
And I'll stay with you!"_

The blonde stopped singing, and bowed his head in appreciation of the applause and the cheering - the loudest of which appeared to be coming from the boisterous brunette who was sitting on the front row. Yamato grinned at the sight and headed back off stage, finally feeling that, just maybe, he had a real shot at being something.

* * *

A quiet rainstorm started up unexpectedly when Yamato, Tai, Sora and Izzy left the school to head on home. It failed, however, to put a dampener on their day. Izzy, who had spent the whole day unable to raise a smile, was affected by the rain in a most peculiar way, and had initiated hysterical laughing upon stepping outside into the wet. He continued this behaviour, much to the pleasure of his friends, until Sora finally waved goodbye to the three boys and entered her house.

"You two should be more careful." Izzy eventually sighed with a vacant smile, whilst he looked up into the clouds above him. "I predict a high likelihood of your secret being out if you do not pay more attention to hiding the body language that you offer to one and other."

"…what?"

"You continually held eye contact, and winked at each other all day. And you stood shoulder to shoulder on various occasions. And you physically contacted each other on the fingers for sustained amounts of time. And you…"

"Oh." Yamato laughed. "Yeah, we get it Izzy. Thanks for the heads up."

Tai looked almost uncomfortable, and pressed a hand up against his front gate. "Yeah, I guess we weren't thinking about it."

"I'll be going home now." Izzy nodded, changing the subject abruptly.

"Wait. How far away do you live?" Tai asked, good-naturedly. "We can walk you some of the way there if you'd like."

"That will not be necessary. I live approximately twenty steps from where we stand now. That would equate to…" He continued. "…directly opposite your house, Taichi."

The brunette scratched his head. "Really? When were you planning on telling us this?"

"Five seconds ago." Izzy answered.

"…what?"

"Tai, just shake it off." Yamato laughed, upon spying the confused look on Tai's face. "We'll see you tomorrow Izzy. "

Tai smiled. "Yeah. Later dude."

"It was nice to meet you Taichi, and Yamato Ishida." Izzy finished, and walked across the road towards his own house. The remaining boys turned towards the Yagami gate.

"That was intense." Tai laughed as he unlocked the gate. His mother had finally given him a spare key for it, as he would be the first one home in the afternoon on weekdays.

"Yeah." Yamato smiled. "So anyway, Tai. You never told me. What happened with the gymnastics thing? It must have gone badly if you've not mentioned it yet."

"Y-yeah...it kinda did." He evaded, continuing along the path towards his house.

"What happened?"

"She said that I can't, y'know, join. Because it's an all-female team."

"Oh...well that's stupid." Yamato offered, putting a hand on Tai's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better about it?"

"Well, I could think of, maybe, a couple of things…" Tai wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, and unlocked the front door.

"Oh really." Yamato crossed his arms jokingly.

"Yeah." Tai stuck his key in the front door. "We have the place to ourselves for at least five or ten minutes. Maybe I could kiss you some more?"

Yamato smiled. "Y'know…that's the best thing I've heard all day, Tai."

They stepped inside the house, ready to plunge their tongues into each other's mouths, when the air in their chests turned to ice. Standing in the hall was a tall, muscular, dark haired man, with lightly tanned skin. His eyes looked dead in their sockets.

"...D-dad?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading. **

**I hope you continue on to the next chapter.**

**The Goo Goo Dolls own the song **_**Stay with you**_**. Yamato doesn't. **

**Fun fact: I chose to have Yamato sing the song **_**Stay with you**_** here because I came across it for the first time whilst writing this chapter, and thought that it was destiny that the two should be connected. And one does not simply fight destiny.**

**All the best!  
**


	5. The Unexpected Arrivals

**Hey there, everyone.**

**You already know this, but the complete set of warnings reside in chapter one.**

**I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Izzy quietly shut the front door behind him with a beaming grin still upon his face, and moved to hang his raincoat on a nearby hook. It was leaking dirty water onto the floor. He wasn't agitated by it, though. Nor was he upset. Not a single mess in the world would be able to ruin his good mood today.

"Izzy?" A tired, female voice called out from the living room. Izzy walked in, wordlessly, to find his mother sitting upside down on the couch, reading a magazine. Her slightly red face brightened as he approached. "I was starting to get a little worried. You're not normally so late."

"I know, Mom." He replied, sitting down beside her. "I walked home with some friends today. But they all walk really slowly."

"Did you say f-f-f…friends?" Mrs Izumi exclaimed, twisting around to face him properly. "Who? How? Where do they live?"

"Taichi lives opposite our house. Sora lives next door to him." Izzy smiled. "Yamato Ishida lives somewhere else. He didn't mention where. I predict that he must live nearby, however."

"That's wonderful news Izzy! Maybe you should invite them all around for dinner sometime this week? It'd be great to have guests!" She bounced up, and bounded off in no real direction, chirping away; half to herself, and half to her bemused son. "And the more, the merrier! Oh, your father will be thrilled!"

"…prodigious." Izzy said under his breath with a shy blush. Absent mindedly, he glanced out of the window on his left, in the direction of Tai's house. His breath caught in his chest.

* * *

Sora swung the front door shut behind her and darted straight towards the kitchen in anticipation. An afternoon snack was desperately needed after such a long day of useless, 'first day of school' formalities. She had spent the majority of her time getting to know the peers in her home room. So far, she had managed to hit it off with two of the other students in her class: Mimi, the shiny haired beauty queen, who had spent the whole morning talking about an upcoming sale at the mall; and Joe, the skinny, shaky whiz kid, who had spent his whole day fearing an upcoming flu epidemic. They both seemed nice enough, if a little self-involved, at times.

"…Sora?" A voice called out, causing her to faze back into the present. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me…" She sighed, turning to face her father. The morning's events suddenly came back to her. She had told him that they'd talk later about what happened, and that was probably why he was waiting around. Normally, he would be wrapped up in his study at this time in the afternoon. "…how's your work going, Dad?"

"Terrible…my laptop's been hacked into. For an hour or so this morning it was buying me all of this trash from auction sites, deleting my files, and filling my inbox with advertisements for various types of oil." He mumbled, clearly stressed out. His voice reeked with irritability. "And apparently, it's been sending my friends random, abusive emails. It took the techs a fair while to fix everything, that's for sure. Cost me a wad of money…"

"Oh, erm…" The red head began. She was growing impatient. The snacks she craved so much were calling out to her, waiting just out of reach. "…but its ok now?"

"Yes, it's fine." He waved the question away. "Anyway, we need to talk about what happened this morning."

"I assumed as much…" Sora replied, sulkily. "…ok. So what about it, then? It's not like I could have stopped what happened. And I've told him not to come round here anymore, but I'm not gonna sto…"

"Sora, would you cool it for just one second?" He smiled, ruffling her sopping-wet hair.

"What? I thought…aren't you mad at me, or something?"

"I was, but I…I guess I've had a change of heart." He mumbled, going red in the face. "I'm not going to be able to stop you hanging out with him, Sora, and if that's the case…then I may as well just let him come around."

"Really?"

"Yes. And…even if he is…."

"Gay?"

"Yes. Gay." He rubbed a hand through his hair, awkwardly, and continued. "If it was you, then I'd want…no, I'd _demand_ that people treat you fairly. He deserves that, too."

"…"

"Sora, aren't you going to say anything?"

"…"

"I'll even apologise to him next time he comes around, alright?" Her father attempted, trying his best to win her attention back. It took him another moment to realise, though, that her eyes were fixated on something just outside the kitchen window.

Their house was slightly elevated from the ground, and from where she stood Sora could see the top of Tai's front gate. She couldn't tell if she was imagining it, or not, but she could have sworn that she'd just seen a figure vault their way into Tai's front garden.

* * *

"Tai, aren't you going to introduce me to your..." Mr Yagami began, fixing his wide, gaping eyes on the blonde. He looked like he was trying to work something out. "…friend?"

"No…" Tai replied, second naturedly moving himself to shield Yamato from view. "…no, I'm not."

"Oh really?"

At that, a buzz sounded throughout the house. Without taking his eyes away from his father's, Tai spoke to the boy behind him. "Yamato, could you go and see who that is?"

"But, Tai…" Yamato began, panicked.

"Yamato." He replied, firmly. "Go."

"But…" He murmured in argument, but halted. "…alright. Ok. I'll go."

He turned and pulled the door open, steadily, but in a flash of noise and movement the brunette was swept to the side and Yamato was pulled backwards into the house by his hair. The door remained open.

"Oh no you don't." Mr Yagami growled through gritted teeth, ignoring Yamato's grunt of pain. He successfully dragged the blonde into the living room, and threw him to the side. "I'm not one for crowds."

"Just who do you think you are?" Tai yelled, grabbing Yamato by the arm and hoisting him towards a nearby corner. Once again, Tai tried his best to shield Yamato from view. The blonde was totally dazed. He had hit his head against a table upon being thrown down.

"I am yourfather!" Mr Yagami retorted, taking a step towards them. "That's who! And you will treat me like it! You have to!"

"You are not my father!"

"Shut up!" The man bellowed, raising his hand to slap Tai.

"No!" Tai cried back, standing up strong against his excessive quivering. "You think you can j-just be my father after everything you've done? You've got to _earn_ that title, d-damn it. You've got to _earn_ it."

"No. Shut up!" Mr Yagami snapped. With a blinding cry he raised a fist. Tai held his arms up to his face and clamped his eyes shut, expecting that barely familiar, blinding pain to return. It didn't, however. In a tag team effort Yamato pulled Tai down to the floor and Mr Yagami was pulled backwards by someone just out of view.

"M-Mike?" Mr Yagami gasped, after being roughly tossed down onto the couch. "What the…what the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Susumu." Mr Horn replied, coolly, keeping his gaze fixed solely on Mr Yagami. Never before had Yamato seen the teacher shoot such a dangerous expression at someone before. His eyes were set to kill. "Aren't you meant to be in prison?"

"No, get your facts right Mike. They let me out on good behaviour-"

"-and so you thought you'd celebrate by breaking into your wife's house and attacking your son?"

"…"

"And, surely you're breaking parole by chasing them this far?"

"Oh, what would you know about it?" Mr Yagami snapped back, violently. He pushed himself back up to his feet, and moved to stare Mr Horn straight in the eyes. They were stood nose to nose.

"I know there's no way that you'd be allowed near these people after what you did to them last time." Came the reply. It was clear, and smooth. Though he was clearly thinner, and frailer, the teacher didn't appear to be the slightest bit afraid. "You were a good man, once. Don't tarnish that memory. Not now, not after everything we've-"

"No! You don't, you don't know me…" Mr Yagami interrupted, mumbled off into a slurring, stream of consciousness. Mr Horn moved closer and began whispering into his ear, nearly inaudibly. Tai remained seated upon the floor in shock, watching his father and his teacher converse mysteriously. Yamato, who was currently lying on the floor with his eyes closed, appeared to be breathing very shakily.

After only a few moments, Mr Yagami began to hobble out of the room with a strange look on his face. Was it worry? Tai's left eyebrow, ever so slightly, raised itself in question.

* * *

Mr Horn waited, silently, until he was sure that Mr Yagami had left the house, before he hurried over to check on the two boys. They looked worn out. Tai appeared to have taken no damage, physically.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the miniature rock star who lay beneath him. Yamato was currently laid out on the floor, eyes closed, with a swollen, red lump on the side of his forehead.

This may prove tough to explain to the authorities, he thought.

* * *

Tai watched Mr Horn closely; almost defensively, even, as he stepped over to Yamato and picked him up. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"I'm just making him comfortable, Tai." The teacher replied, as he placed Yamato down on the couch, and propped his head up with some cushions. "You don't need to worry. He seems ok, but I'm still going to call an ambulance, now, and then we can…"

"No!" Tai jumped up, grabbing Mr Horn by the wrist. "No, no. You can't call anyone about this."

"I have to, Tai. He could be seriously hurt. Sit down, please."

"No. If you call an ambulance about what happened, then the police will get involved too." Tai rambled out, shaking Mr Horn's arm madly. "And if they get involved, then my Mom will find out that my Dad was here. And if she finds out that my dad was here, then she'll make us move again. And I can't move again!"

"Think about Yamato, Tai."

"I _am_ thinking about Yamato."

"And what if he's suffered some real injury?" He replied, trying his best to calm the hysterical boy down. "Are you really willing to accept responsibility if something bad happens?"

"…let him wake up, and he can decide what to do about it."

"Tai, I'm sorry. We can't do that."

"Then…then…maybe we can call an ambulance, and tell them that he fell over? Or…or…"

"Tai, listen to yourself." Mr Horn spoke, quietly. "You need to be brave here, ok?"

"But my Mom. She'll make us move if she finds out and…and I won't be with Yamato anymore." Tai choked out, clamping his eyes shut to keep them from overflowing. He turned his head to the side and made a sound akin to growling.

"Tai…" Mr Horn sighed. A car could suddenly be heard pulling up outside. Panic pumped through both of them.

Tai raised his head and looked Mr Horn in the eyes. "P-please, Michael…"

"Tai." He repeated, and looked down at Yamato. The boy was badly hurt. He needed to go to the hospital. There was no way around that. But how could he accomplish such a thing and keep this family safe from their father, without telling somebody what had happened? It was impossible. "…if we lie about what happened, we're accessories to the crime. We're accessories to abuse, Tai. I'm not going along that path." The front door opened, and Mrs Yagami's voice filled the house.

"Tai! We're home!"

"…having said that, I can tell your Mom what happened, and persuade her about the best course of action for you kids. Staying put, and having the police search for your Dad." His voice had become a hurried whisper. "I'll make her see that she won't gain anything from moving you again."

"Tai?"

"Me and your mom…we're already acquainted. She'll listen to me. I promise. That's the best I can do for you. We can't hide this."

"Tai? What's going on?" Mrs Yagami asked, stepping into the living room.

"Ok?" Mr Horn tried, again, only loud enough for the brunette to hear. At last, Tai nodded. Mr Horn swivelled on the spot and moved towards Mrs Yagami. "Yuuko, it's me. I called yesterday and said I'd come around to see you, remember?"

"Of course I do. It's great to see you again, Michael. But…Oh m-my!" She held her hand to her mouth and moved forward, but was stopped by Mr Horn's arm. "What's happened to Yamato?"

"We'll discuss it on the way to the hospital, ok? Grab your keys."

* * *

Sitting in the backseat, silently, with Kari on one side and Yamato on the other, had allowed Tai to finally make sense of the day's events. The two adults in the front had barely taken heed of his presence, and had talked to themselves for the whole journey. Apparently, Mr Horn (or Michael, as he liked to be called) had been close friends with both of Tai's parents since they'd been in high school and, when Mr Yagami had been arrested, it was he who had helped the family into Odaiba. He had persuaded the school to open a place for Tai under less than a few weeks' notice. He had informed Tai's mom about the house for sale, and had even helped her with the hefty deposit it took for her to move in so fast.

So why had she kept him a secret?

Initially, Tai had expected his Mom to break down, or explode, or call the police, after hearing the details about what had happened. But she didn't. She simply asked for the full details, and Mr horn gave them. He then did as he had promised, and tried to persuade Mrs Yagami to stick around Odaiba. The police would be alerted, and they would search for Mr Yagami. It wouldn't take long for them to be successful. She had argued, at first, but soon agreed. If he could track her all the way back to Odaiba this quickly, then he could probably track them anywhere. They may as well, she guess, wait for the authorities to do their job. Besides, she could hardly keep dragging her children around the country.

Son enough they were in the waiting room at the hospital. Michael had gone with Yamato when they took him away to be checked up. Apparently Tai would also be taken in for a check-up, later. He couldn't quite convince anyone that he was perfectly fine.

"Hey, Tai?" His mom asked, sympathetically.

"Mom, for the millionth time. I'm fine." He replied, grimly, keeping his head pressed up against his knees.

"No, it's not that…I need to know how to contact your friend's parents, so I can let them know what's happened." Tai's eyes widened, and he jumped up with a gasp. His parents! "Tai?"

"Mom...I need to tell you something. It's about his parents."

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, something is wrong Mom. Something is really wrong…" He began. The words were struggling to form. However, they didn't need to. At that moment Mr Horn came striding into the room, grabbed Tai by the arm, and said it all.

"Were you aware that Yamato was being abused at home, Tai?"

* * *

Kari woke to the sound of her mother shouting something, and jumping up to her feet. They were still in the hospital, waiting for Tai's friend to get better. The one who plays piano. And has nice hair. And eats lots of pizza. She hoped he was ok. Tai would be sad if something bad happened. She attempted to zone into the conversation that the others were having. Most of it didn't really make much sense, though.

"Was this what you were trying to tell me before, Tai?"

"Yeah, I found out this morning. Yama was sitting outside our house, Mom, and I made him explain everything! I thought we could…maybe we could…"

"Help him." Michael finished, with a sigh.

"Tai, dear, this is a lot to ask. It's not as simple as taking him home and living happily ever after. You know that, right?"

"I know…but we can't just let him go back to his parents!" Tai retorted. Silence reigned, as his Mom attempted to process what was happening.

"The law can be a bit foggy in this area, Yuuko. It'll take a lot of thought, and work, if you do attempt to take him in."

Kari turned her head at this point, and attempted to go back to sleep again. This conversation wasn't as interesting as she'd originally hoped. Somewhere in the background, though, before she could fully nod off, she heard a barely audible:

"Let's do it."

* * *

**Righty, that's it for this chapter. **

**For those of you who have made it here: thank you. I appreciate you putting your time into this story.**

**Please continue! **

**:)  
**


	6. Old Habits Die Hard

**Well, here we are. After 4 or 5 long, long months of being away from each other, we're finally reunited. Bittersweet, isn't it? If I wasn't feeling so damn guilty about the wait I'd shed a tear of joy.**

**Anyway, I've worked my butt raw lately (wasn't that a pleasant image, eh?) and it's finally ready.**

**For whatever reason, when the narration is following the adults I always have the narrator refer to Mr Horn as Michael, and I have it do the opposite when the narration is following the children. I don't do this with any other characters, though. Make of it what you will, just don't let it confuse you.**

**Oh, and all of the general warnings reside in chapter one. If you wanna be reminded of what you're up against then go ahead and take a looksee.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Mr Yagami slammed his truck door closed from the inside and laid down in the backseat, slurring random, incoherent groans to himself as he nuzzled into an old, orange blanket. He was absolutely exhausted.

And try as he may, he couldn't quite recall what had happened to him in the last few hours. Where had he been? Why had he been there? Where did he intend to go next? Crumpled images of misplaced answers, massed together in a clutter of confusion and abstract aspirations, flooded his weary mind. It hurt to think.

He opened his eyes ever so slightly.

His mouth followed suit.

"Wh…where…" He muttered, staring into his craggy, worn out hands. "I…"

He closed his eyes again, and placed his hands over his ears to muffle out the sound of his own, whining voice. But he kept talking.

It was somewhat soothing.

* * *

Mrs Yagami stood on the front porch, and watched with relief as the police officers finally returned to their car and departed.

"Thank God that's over…" She muttered, irritably, as she closed the door behind her with a resounding click.

Everybody in the house, even the semi-conscious Yamato, had been interviewed ruthlessly tonight; once when they had been at the hospital and then again, a second time, when they had all returned home. For the most part, of course, the police were happy enough with what they had been told. Yet they remained sceptical over a couple of the key details.

"Why did he leave?" One of them had asked. "How did you convince the man to go? He was drunk enough to attack his own child. Why, then, would he suddenly be sober enough to listen to reasoned discussion?" It struck a very low note. Not because it was aimed at her, or anything; because it wasn't. It was aimed at Michael. And that absolutely infuriated her.

"How dare they question him like he's some…some criminal?" She had thought to herself at the time, biting her lip. "If it wasn't for him, anything could've happened to Tai!"

Michael had responded consistently when questioned. He hadn't lost his cool either. But his answer, "I told him that I'd already called the police, and that I'd informed them of my suspicions before I entered the house. That scared him off…" hadn't been enough for them. They had suspected him of some twisted collaboration.

When it came to gathering the information needed to piece together Yamato's relationship with his parents, however, they had replaced their bad-cop set up for something remarkably more gentle, and patient. They sympathetically listened through the tears, and the silence, until Yamato finally came out with what they had expected to hear.

Yamato told them that he was being physically abused at home. Mrs Yagami had seen the bruises for herself at the hospital. They were no accident. And they were all found around his torso, hidden from view.

The officers had no choice but to agree with Mrs Yagami's prior decision. They, too, felt that it would be best to leave Yamato in her care.

"But…" Mrs Yagami was told, quietly, as if to amplify that this was to be kept entirely off of the record. "...it's got to be kept secret for a few days. Legally, we're supposed to take Yamato into safe custody. But with all of the distress that he's been through so far I think he would be better off just staying somewhere that he already feels comfortable. For now, at least. We'll do the research, we'll collect the statements from his relatives and then, when everything's ready, you'll hear from us again. Expect that to be soon."

"Yuuko?" A voice called out, abruptly, de-railing Mrs Yagami's train of thought.

"I'm here, Michael." She replied, turning and strolling into the kitchen, feigning poise to the best of her ability. "You know…it's a shame. After all this time that we've been apart, and after all this planning to meet up again, it all coincided with…with this."

"Hey, Mom?" Tai interjected, sliding into the room in his socks. She couldn't help but find herself slightly bewildered by his sudden, ecstatic entrance. Why was he smiling so widely? "Yama needs a milkshake."

"Err…they're in the fridge, dear." She replied, blankly, before rotating her body to face Michael again. He looked to be holding back a grin. "I just…well, I guess the three of us are always going to be somehow intertwined, aren't we?"

"Maybe so, Yuuko…" He responded, looking her straight in the eyes. That trademark, optimistic glow that she used to know so well had dulled somewhat since their days at school. "It's funny though, isn't it? Back in school we were praying that this would be our life. That we would always be involved with each other, and that we'd never lose contact. Yet, here we are, rueing the day that we wished it…"

"Rueing the day you wished what, Mom?" Tai interrupted, sticking a straw in his mouth.

"Erm, well…it's nothing important, Tai. Just grown up stuff." She replied, ruffling a hand through his hair.

"You should go give that to Yamato, Tai. He can get pretty grumpy when people make him wait, you know." Mr Horn answered, smiling. Tai nodded, and with a resounding 'wooooo' he glided out of the room.

"What in the name of…" Mrs Yagami's began, falling into a bewildered silence.

"Ah, don't think on it too much." Michael laughed, stretching further back in his seat. "It's probably just a defence mechanism, or something."

"If you say so…" She murmured, tentatively. "I'm just worried about him, Michael. Well, about all of them, really. They can smile and laugh as much as they want, but it's not gonna be enough to get them through what happened today…"

"…they're strong, Yuuko. I hope you can see that."

"Of course I can, I just…" She toned it down to a hiss, and continued. "…after what Susamu did to Tai, all that time ago; and after what Yamato has been through with his parents, it's hard to think that they're just gonna pull out of this with no worries."

"Of course they won't just 'pull out of this'." Mr Horn whispered, imitating the drop in volume as he drew closer to his old friend. "Hell, I doubt that Tai has even let himself come to terms with what he has to pull himself out of, yet. But that doesn't mean he won't grow strong enough to do so in time."

"I know, I just…well, I don't know, do I?" She mumbled, rhetorically, as she laid her head down against the cold table. "I don't know what to think anymore, Michael. About Tai, about Yamato; about myself! I can't make sense of anything that's happened recently. And what on Earth am I supposed to think about Tai's father?"

"Well…" Michael replied, clearly hesitant on sharing his thoughts on the matter. "…maybe it's best not to think about him right now, Yuuko. I mean, we don't have any idea why this has happened. We don't know why he decided to follow you to Odaiba, or why he decided to go through all this trouble to get here and then leave at the slightest cue without causing more than a few moments worth of trouble. We don't know anything, and until we do…well, thinking about it isn't gonna help all that much."

"But if we don't think about it, and if we don't find out why, then we may not find him before he tries to do something again!"

"It's not our job to find him, right?" He shrugged. "And besides, if there's one thing we do know, and if there's one thing we can find solace in, it's that he didn't come here intending to hurt anyone. Least of all Tai. If he had intended that, then he would have gone through with it from the word go, instead of just chatting with him. I don't think we need to worry about Tai's safety."

"You can be sure of that, can you?"

"I'd like to think so."

"Hmph…you know, we've always been close to each other, Michael. But the way you talk like that; like everything's a riddle that needs decoding, or a puzzle that needs solving. Like everything's twisted? That always put me off the idea of holding extended conversations with you." She smirked, chuckling under her breath. Mr Horn smiled back, unsure of whether she was being sarcastic or not. "I mean, no wonder the police were getting edgy around you. I'd be feeling the same way in their position!"

"Yeah, I guess I can't blame you, or them, for that. I wouldn't trust me either." He smiled, unrolling the sleeves of his cardigan as he got back to his feet. "Anyway, Yuuko. I really must be going. It's late."

"But…well, will you come around again tomorrow?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I will. I'll be escorting your son home after school. Assuming that he doesn't need a day off, of course."

"He'd be insulted if we offered him one."

"Like mother, like son." The man smiled, lightly, as he walked out of the room. "At any rate, I'll be here to take care of things for you. Don't worry."

"I owe you, Michael. And I know what you're thinking; but don't say it. Coz I really, really do owe you for this." She stared at him, with glowing, gracious eyes, fixated fondly on his smaller, drearier ones. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Yuuko."

* * *

Yamato sat up with an abrupt start. For a panic-ridden moment, he had entirely forgotten why he was bundled underneath Tai's bed covers, and why there was a dull, drumming pain running along the side of his head.

"…and he was better than me at hide and seek, too. He said you and him used to play it a lot, and that you could never find him and that, sometimes, you'd get scared."

He also had no recollection, at all, of Kari entering the room and starting a conversation with him.

"Do you really get scared?" She asked, with her head tilted ever so slightly to the left. She was sat on the end of the bed beside the blonde's feet. "You don't look like you do."

"Er…" He answered, rubbing the sleep out of his bright, blue eyes, as the night's events slowly trickled back to him. "I guess everyone gets a little scared, sometimes."

"Oh…"

"Kari, how long have I been asleep?"

"Well, you were asleep when I came in."

"…and what, you didn't feel like waking me up before you talked to me?" He smiled.

"Well, T.K. asked me to tell you about our day. But you looked so tired…so I've been real quiet."

"Wait, T.K.? You met him?"

"Yeah, he's nice. And he's almost nine and two quarters, not nine and one quarter!"

"Really?" Yamato laughed, running a hand through his unreasonably un-styled hair. "Well, don't tell him I got that one wrong. He'll never let it go."

"Oh, ok…" She mumbled, glancing to the side with a rather guilty expression. She had already mentioned it, much to T.K.s exaggerated horror. "…he said he misses you, by the way."

"Oh…" Yamato murmured, glancing to the side with a similar guilty expression. His gaze fell upon one of the many soccer posters that were plastered up across the bedroom walls. Tai had stuck a picture of his face over one of the player's heads.

"Should I tell him that you miss him, too?" Kari continued, oblivious to the wide grin that was pushing its way across Yamato's face.

"Yeah, Kari. Tell him I miss him. And tell him…tell him that I'll come see him soon."

At that, Tai's chirpy voice bellowed out from somewhere in the house, calling for Kari to 'come to bed so that he could tuck her in'.

"Oops! Nighty night Yamato." Kari squeaked, before jumping off of the bed and jogging off, at breakneck speed, towards the source of her brother's voice.

"Heh, goodnight Kari…" Yamato attempted through another long, drawn out yawn, as she closed the door behind her. His head hit the pillow, and in mere seconds he had fallen back to sleep.

* * *

When Tai returned from tucking in his sister a few minutes later, milkshake in hand, straw still in mouth, Yamato was sleeping peacefully - just as he'd been doing, on and off, for most of the evening. "When the doctors were looking over Yamato at the hospital…" Mr Horn had previously explained to Tai on the long journey home. "…they'd crammed him full of enough sleeping pills to kill a horse."

Doped up on pills or not, though, Tai didn't think it very healthy for anybody to sleep as much as Yamato was doing without first consuming something sweet. And since they didn't have anything that classed as 'desert' in the house, bar the homemade 'house-warming' cake that his Mom had baked sometime previously (and which, Tai assumed, wasn't fit for human consumption), milkshakes would have to fit that role.

Tai removed the straw from his mouth and took a running start.

"YAAAAA-"

Yamato groggily raised his head at the noise, but he didn't have enough time to react defensively towards the currently airborne Tai.

"-MAAAA!"

Tai landed full force on top of the bewildered blonde, who could only scream out muffled abuse in return. Tai closed in on Yamato's ear. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I brought you a milkshake."

"Get OFF!" Yamato yelled. He pushed Tai backwards onto the floor with an almighty shove, resulting in a surprised yelp on Tai's part. A few moments of tense silence trailed by, until "…what kind of milkshake?"

At that, Tai's head popped into view again. He had a slowly growing grin on his face. "Vanilla." He crawled back onto the bed, albeit warily this time, and handed it to him.

"…did you really have to jump on me?"

"Yes." Tai replied. "Oh, and I got you a…well, er…a straw…"

"…where is it?"

"It probably rolled under the bed when you pushed me." He stuck his tongue out at the blonde, very aware that his behaviour could earn him another shove if he wasn't careful, and tentatively sat closer. Yamato didn't respond. Instead, he unscrewed the lid of his drink, blinked groggily a couple of times, and touched the bottle to his mouth.

Tai observed as Yamato drank the whole bottle of his creamy white milkshake down in one attempt, and licked the final drops of it from his ravenous lips. He couldn't help himself from becoming fairly aroused by the action, though he wasn't entirely sure why…

"Err…Tai?" Yamato attempted, noticing that Tai was drawing nearer, ever so slowly.

"…"

"What…what are you…staring at?" He continued, glancing warily at the strange expression on the brunette's face. "C'mon, stop it would you? You're weirding me out..."

"Er…" Tai rambled, hurriedly averting his gaze and pulling back. "Sorry. I just, er…"

"What?"

"Er…I, um…nothing!" Tai yelped, jumping up from the bed. Tai didn't quite feel ready, yet, to discuss how sexy he thought his new boyfriend was, or how aroused he kept finding himself at random moments when they were together. Instead, he opted for the sudden 'change of topic' approach that he was oh so experienced at. "Hey, do you have anything cool in here?"

"In…where?" Yamato replied, confused as to why Tai was suddenly searching about on the floor.

"In your jacket."

"Hey, keep your hands out of my jacket, Tai." Yamato warned, attempting to pull himself up with his temporarily numb arm. He must have been resting his weight on it as he was sleeping.

"…"

"Tai…" He warned, again.

"Hey, I found something!" Tai replied, pulling his hand out of the jacket's pocket. "Oooh, mind if I play it?" Without waiting for a reply, he shoved Yamato's small, golden harmonica in his mouth and started blowing on it with all the enthusiasm that he could muster.

"Arggh, Tai!" Yamato yelled, attempting to shove his hands over his ears. His numb arm flopped back down on the bed, though.

"I'm pretty good, right?" Tai answered with a genuine smile. "I'm gonna go play it on the balcony!" He ran off, despite Yamato's protests, and opened the balcony doors as wide as they would go. "It's really nice out here tonight, Yama! You should join me!" He yelled, before squeaking his way, left and right, along the harmonica, making all sorts of new, headache inducing sounds as he went.

"Tsk, not a musical bone in his body…" Yamato muttered as he stepped out of bed and hobbled over to the balcony, still feeling half asleep. He couldn't help but wonder if these drugs were going to kill him. "Ok, Tai, I'm coming."

It was surprisingly warm when Yamato stepped outside. Tai was currently jumping up and down, breathing in and out through the harmonica as he did so, occasionally squinting when he hit a high pitch by accident. He carried on for a minute or two, before he finally gave up with a sigh. "I've changed my mind. I don't think I sound too good." He handed the harmonica to Yamato and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Play for me?"

"Alright, Tai…" The pale boy replied, licking his lips slightly. He began to play along to a tune which, whilst unknown to Tai, seemed somewhat familiar. It wasn't until a minute had passed that Tai realised where he had heard it before.

"Hey, were you outside with your harmonica a couple of nights ago?"

"Ha, you're perceptive all of a sudden." Yamato replied. "Yes, I was. What gave me away?"

"The night I moved to Odaiba I had a nightmare. I woke up, and when I came out here to get some air I heard that song being played. Small world, eh?"

"Yeah, Tai." Yamato said, wrapping an arm around the brunette. "It's a small world." They stayed there for a little longer in silence, just listening to the sounds of the city go by. It wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon. "Hey, Tai?" Yamato asked, his curiosity riled all of a sudden. "What was the nightmare about?"

"Oh, err…" Tai replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "…well, it was kinda sorta…well, y'know. About my dad, I think."

"Oh, right…" Yamato said, quietly. "…is it ok if I don't like him?"

"Yeah, Matt." Tai laughed. "It's perfectly fine if you don't like him. To be honest, I'm not exactly his biggest fan either."

"Well, he doesn't seem to get you down too much."

"I try to stay positive." Tai winked, taking Yamato by the hand and leading him nearer to the edge of the balcony. He looked at the street below. "What's the point in letting life get you down, eh?"

"…"

"Something wrong?"

"No, I just…" Yamato scratched his head, wondering how best to phrase his thoughts. "…I guess I wish I was as strong as you, y'know?

"Maybe you need to eat more." Tai laughed, raising his head to wink at him. "It's fine if you're not too strong right now, Yama. I'm here to be strong for you."

Yamato wasn't really sure how to reply with words, so instead he grabbed Tai by the shoulders and kissed him, passionately. They simultaneously closed their eyes and leaned into each other, letting the rest of the world melt away. The stars were bright in the sky above them.

* * *

"I could have led them here, Susamu, if I'd wanted." Michael stated, coolly, as he stepped back from the truck door. "I trust you know that."

"What, is that meant to be a threat, Mike?" Mr Yagami growled, unsteadily exiting the truck with his crumpled, orange blanket hanging loosely from his right hand.

"No, it's just a clarification."

"Of what?" Mr Yagami questioned, eyebrows slightly raised.

"Of the fact that your fate, right now, is dependent on how well you follow what I tell you." Michael answered, laying one hand up against the truck, a few inches to the left of Susamu's head. "I don't want to see you back in jail, even if you do deserve to rot there for what you've done. But if you get outta here; if you go, start a real life somewhere else, and leave your family alone, then I'm not gonna give anyone any hints. I won't let slip that I met you here. Not a soul will know."

"You think I need your help?"

"Yes." Michael stated without blinking. "Though you certainly don't deserve my help."

"Then why give it?"

"Because old habits die hard, Susy." Michael sighed, almost smiling to himself. "Old habits die hard."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter.  
**

**Spare your thoughts?**

**:)  
**


	7. Lessons In Life

**Hey there, everyone. :D**

**Would you look at that? *checks date* This, my dear readers, is a true breakthrough. I updated this in less than a month's time. If I wasn't here, right now, looking at my last update date, then I wouldn't believe it.**

**Anyways, let's get straight on to business. This chapter is long. And when I say that, I mean LONG, long. Now, some of you may ask why I didn't just make this into two or three chapters to give you a break now and then; and some of you may in fact criticise me for it. That's your choice. But my answer to you is simple. My chapter plan tells me in advance what events must happen before I continue onto the next chapter, and I do not venture from my chapter plan. I stick to it very rigidly. Simply put, make sure you have some spare time before you start reading this. Yessum?**

**The general warnings reside in chapter one, in case you were interested. Go take a peek if you've forgotten them.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Izzy's bright, flickering eyes opened wide, as the first rays of the morning's sunlight beamed through his bedroom window. He lurched himself out of bed with a tiny yawn.

As was routine, Izzy stretched his fingers all the way down to his toes, and counted out each toe separately by tapping on it with a corresponding finger.

He had a fear of waking up with missing pieces.

After hurried deliberation, however, he had concluded that his toes were, in fact, still there.

Satisfied, he pulled off his pyjama top, folded it into a tiny square shape, and placed it on top of his bedside lamp, before turning to walk swift, triangular laps of his bedroom.

Morning exercise was important, after all. And so were triangles.

Ten peaceful minutes passed by in this fashion, and the house remained silent except for the slight tip tapping of Izzy's bare feet against his polished, hardwood floor.

Izzy, who was still smiling a smile that was as bright as could be, eventually decided that he had done more than enough walking for now, and dropped his pyjama bottoms to his feet. Just as he had previously done with his shirt, he folded them into a small square shape, before balancing them on his second bedside lamp, which was located on the other side of his bed.

Standing naked, he stretched his fingers back down to his toes, and re-counted each toe separately by tapping on it with a corresponding finger.

Just to be sure.

As before, however, close inspection revealed that his toes were definitely still there. He wriggled them about, joyfully, and made his way to the bathroom.

Upon taking his first step onto the bright, tiled flooring, the boy let off a tiny yelp. It was ice-cold. He hurried over to the shower compartment on his tip toes and closed the shower guard. To his relief, the water that came pouring down onto him was immediately warm.

Izzy sponged himself all over his body, gently. He washed himself with liquid soap, slowly and precisely, in every nook and cranny known to boy-kind. Then he sponged himself a second time all over his body, this time a little more roughly, and he finally washed his hair.

…before sponging himself all over his body a third time.

You could never be too careful.

Pleased with himself, he turned off the water and stood where he was, water dripping from his hair to the ground, drop by steady drop.

To his displeasure, though, he found that it was rapidly becoming cold again. With a frown, he sat down and brought his knees up to his face.

That feeling was beginning to settle in, falling upon him as quickly as the cold had.

He picked up the sponge and trailed it across his body, roughly.

That feeling didn't normally come to the surface until after breakfast, but every now and then…

He pressed his forehead into his kneecaps, and listened intently to the dripping sound around him.

…it started early.

He squeezed his bright, yellow sponge tightly, and ran it across his body again. His skin was slowly growing a bright red hue.

"Today's going to be one of those days." He said, shakily. "Isn't it?" The vivid memory of people talking about him, laughing at him, touching him, rushed to mind. "Today…today is going to be one of those days. Isn't it?"

Slowly, Izzy's mood swing fizzled out, and he re-transitioned into what the world saw him as every passing day: an emotionless, robotic bag of compulsivity. He stood up, and stepped out of the shower.

That monotonous voice that he used so well would be all that anyone heard today. That blank expression that he held so exquisitely would be all that anyone saw.

"Every day is one of those days."

* * *

Yamato came sprinting down the stairs, dressed in one of Tai's old dinosaur themed pyjama sets, with a black school shoe grasped in his hands. His bright, blue eyes were shining mischievously.

Tai tumbled down the stairs after him a few seconds later, fully dressed in his uniform - save for his left shoe - and landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom. "Damn it, Yamato!" He got up and dusted himself off, before continuing the chase. "You're not gonna get away that easy!"

He entered the kitchen to find it eerily empty, and halted. "I could've sworn he ran in here…" He took another step forward. "Come out, come out, wherever you…"

He cut off with an abrupt lurch when someone landed on top of him and kissed him on the back of his head, with their arms hanging loosely around his neck. "Breakfast?"

"Ugh…" Tai struggled. "…o-only if you give me back my shoe!"

"What shoe?" Yamato smirked, hanging from Tai's neck as they fought their way further into the kitchen.

"Don't play innocent with me."

"But I am innocent!" Yamato gasped, feigning an expression of hurt.

"Y'know, I think you seem perfectly well enough to go to school today…" Tai rolled his eyes so perfectly that it could make the blonde on his back jealous.

"So do I, Tai." Yamato replied, as he hopped off of his mule and sat down at the kitchen table. "But the doctors told me I have to take a couple of days out to relax."

"Yeah, I know..." Tai replied, stroking the blonde's long, silky hair. "You didn't have to get up with me this morning, y'know. You could have slept in if you'd wanted."

"But I wanted to see you before you left."

"…I can't leave without my shoe, y'know."

"So my plan is working." Yamato winked, laughing at Tai's half-hearted attempt to pull a frustrated expression.

"Whatever. What do you want for breakfast?"

"You know what I like, right? Just surprise me." He smiled.

"Err…well…"

"What?" The blonde questioned, tilting his head.

"I…I don't think I do know what you like, Yama." Tai said, awkwardly scratching his head. "Apart from pizza, and milkshakes, that is."

"Oh…" Yamato uttered, looking downtrodden all of a sudden.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Tai said, defensively.

"I didn't say it was, Tai!"

"And I bet you don't know what I like, either!" Tai continued, ignoring Yamato comment. A few seconds of silence passed, before Yamato responded.

"You're right, Tai. I don't." Yamato stated, almost monotonously.

"…are you ok?" Tai tried, sitting next to the blonde.

"Do you know what kind of music I like?"

"Huh? What do you…"

"Just answer, Tai. Do you…do you know what my favourite band is?"

"No, I don't think so Yama."

"I don't think I know yours, either." Yamato halted for a moment before piping up again. "I don't know what food you like, I don't know what music you like…I don't even know your favourite colour, Tai."

"So what?"

"Tai…" Yamato tried, shakily. "…we hardly know anything about each other, do we?"

"Of course we do…" Tai answered, trying to sound assured. "…right?"

"I…I don't think so, Tai. I mean…hell; we got together so damn fast, you know?" Yamato continued, a shadow of fear passing over his face. "And…and we hardly knew a single thing about each other when we did. And even now…even now we don't know any of the little things about each other." He finished, before adding "I doubt we even know many of the big things, on that note."

Tai listened, intently, unsure of how best to respond to his distraught boyfriend. He wasn't even sure what Yamato was really getting worried about.

"I've tried not thinking about it, Tai, but knowing that we know so little…" Yamato continued, clenching his fist. He was struggling to keep his voice steady. "…it makes me think that, when we got together, we didn't do it because we liked each other."

"What?" Tai replied, dumbfounded. "Of course we did. Why else would we have?"

"Do you remember that night?" Yamato replied. "We were both so scared. Well, maybe I was more scared than you, considering…" He stopped, and focused on Tai's sparkling, chocolate eyes. "I just wanted to be with someone; anyone who would accept me, and share my pain, and understand why I was in pain in the first place."

"But, Yama…"

"You were the same, weren't you?" Yamato interrupted. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes. "Once you found out I was gay you…you couldn't wait to grab hold, just like I couldn't when I found out what you were. We fell in love with the idea that we were both gay, Tai, instead of falling in love with the one behind that label." He bowed his head and stared into his lap. "We just wanted someone to hold onto, regardless of who that someone was."

"But I want to be with you. I want to hold onto you, and I don't want to hold onto anybody else." Tai replied, getting to his feet. "Don't…don't you want to hold onto me?"

"I…I do…" Yamato trembled. "I just…with e-everything that's been going on, I don't know for sure if I really, really do." Silence reigned again for a few moments, before Yamato added a final, painful note. "I'm just so scared, Tai."

"It's ok, Yama, it's ok…" Tai answered, taking the blonde into his arms. "Take the time to think about what you want. I'm here to help you, as a…" He inhaled sharply, and continued. "…a friend, if that's all you need me to be right now."

"I'm sorry…"Yamato whispered, quietly.

"It's ok, Yamato. We all get scared sometimes." He said, adding a 'and we all say stupid things when we're scared, too' in his head, thinking better than to voice the latter opinion. "I'm still going to be here for you."

"Maybe it'll h-help if I…if I take some time to learn a little more about you, Tai."

"Ok. Well, what do you wanna know?" Tai said, trying to sound upbeat.

"L-let's start small." He smiled, weakly. "What…what do you like for breakfast?"

"Ice cream." Tai replied. Yamato laughed, wiping his eyes.

"I should have seen that one coming…numbskull."

"Listen…" The brunette said, stroking Yamato's shoulders. "…I think I've gotta get going, now." He glanced at the clock, hoping that Yamato wouldn't notice that there was still twenty minutes left before he had to go anywhere. "But when I get back we can spend all night being friends, and you can tell me stories about yourself, and I'll tell you my favourite colour. And…" Tai took a few steps away. "I'll make you feel better."

"Ok, Tai…" Yamato said, pretending to remain oblivious to the time. "…I can't wait. Keep yourself safe, ok?"

"You too."

"And make sure you sort out your sports thing."

"I will."

"And make sure you don't upset Izzy. He's a walking time-bomb."

"I know, Yama." Tai laughed, walking out of the kitchen and opening the front door.

"And Tai? One last thing." Yamato said, as he pulled something out from underneath him and held it out in front of him.

"What?"

"Don't forget your shoe."

* * *

Sora, who was currently fighting with her dog over her breakfast, could hear faintly muffled voices coming from the front door all of a sudden. Not like the shouting that she had come across yesterday morning, though. More like civilised conversation.

She dropped her last piece of toast to the floor and the dog gobbled it up. "Just have it, then." She moaned, as she got to her feet. "Why can't you be like my canary? She never eats my breakfast…"

When she got to the door, she found that her Dad was talking with Tai. Tai looked slightly awkward, and was rubbing the back of his head, whilst her Dad was offering a remorseful expression. She assumed that he was apologizing for his behaviour yesterday.

"Hey, guys." She said, brightly. "Where's Matt, Tai?"

"He had a bit of an incident, Sora, and he won't be coming back to school for a couple of days…"

"Oh?" She gasped. "Is he ok?"

"He's gonna be. He's staying at my house right now. I'll tell you all about it later, though." He answered. Sora couldn't help but wonder if this had something to do with the man who she had seen jumping over Tai's security fence last night, or if it had something do with Matt's troubles with his parents.

"Ok, Tai. Would you give me and my Dad a second before we go?"

"Sure thing, Sora." Tai answered, walking away rather indifferently.

"You're in luck, Dad." Sora said, smiling. "Matt's gonna be next door all day, so you can go and talk to him whenever you like."

"Yeah, ok…" He mumbled. "Have a nice day at school, Sora."

"Thanks, love you!" She said, waving him goodbye and grabbing her bag from beside the front door, before hurrying to catch up with Tai. He hadn't gone very far. "So, tell me all about it Tai! What's up with Matt?"

"Ok, Sora…here's what happened."

* * *

Kari sat down at her desk. She had been dropped off at school by her Mom ten minutes ago, and after a quick morning game of monsters with Daisuke and T.K. (she had lost) they had all been herded inside by their teachers to start their lessons. Today, they would be starting with art and design, and were challenged with the task of drawing various cups.

"Kari, do you have a pencil?" Daisuke pleaded from her left, scratching his head. The small, chewed stick that he was holding had been all but snapped in half, and was blunt on the end. Fragile things didn't tend to last for very long in Daisuke's hands.

"I have one, Dai." T.K laughed from Kari's right, leaning over to offer his own, bright yellow pencil to his friend. "Don't chew on it, though."

"But I'll be gentle!" Daisuke replied, sticking the item in his mouth.

"You're never gentle."

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Quiet down, Daisuke!" The teacher at the front of the room said, rubbing her temples wearily. She did that a lot when she talked to the raucous boy, Kari had noticed.

"But…but…Mrs Morioka." Daisuke whined, feeling that the teacher was being entirely unfair to him. As always. He ruffled his reddish brown hair, and pouted. "…T.K. is yelling, too!"

"No I'm not!" The blonde shouted.

"Yes you are!"

"Stop chewing my pencil!" T.K. retorted, stretching his hand past Kari in an attempt to try and take it back.

"I'm being gentle!" Daisuke whined, pulling himself out of T.K.'s reach. "And your pencil tastes funny!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!" T.K. shouted, jumping onto the desk towards his friend, whilst accidently knocking Kari out of her chair and onto the floor in the process.

"Uh-oh." The boys said, simultaneously, before jumping down to see if she was ok.

"I'm sorry, Kari!" T.K. whimpered, looking at her with glossy, shimmering eyes.

"Yeah, we're sorry Kari!" Daisuke leant next to her, trying to lift her up from under the armpits. "Help, T.K.!"

"Oh, yeah ok!" T.K. responded, wiping his nose and taking Kari by the feet.

"Wait…" Kari tried, but in vain. They lifted her up into the air all of a sudden, with confusion plastered across their faces.

The rest of the class watched them in slight amusement as they all half-heartedly drew their cups. The teacher kept her head face down against the table, still rubbing her temples.

"No, this isn't right Dai." T.K. said, scratching his nose with Kari's foot.

"Should we put her on the table?" Daisuke asked, tilting his head.

"No, she might need the nurse."

"But where does the nurse stay?" He asked.

"I don't know, but we should try and find her!" T.K. offered, smiling at how clever he was.

"Couldn't we just put her on the table?"

"But it's covered in our stuff, and stuff!"

"Then let's go find the nurse, like I said." Daisuke smiled.

"You didn't say it, I did." T.K. fought back.

"Bye Mrs Morioka!" Kari said, as she was carried out into the corridor by the bickering pair. Mrs Morioka replied with a muffled 'ummph', pulled some headache tablets out of her handbag, and swallowed them dry. The rest of the children continued drawing their cups.

* * *

"So…yeah." Tai finished, scratching the back of his head. "That's everything that happened, I guess."

"Wow…" Sora managed to say, scratching her own head as they walked through the school gates. "I'm…I'm not sure what to say, Tai."

"Me neither."

"Well…" She sighed, rubbing the brunette on the shoulder. "…I'm sure he'll get better with a couple of days away from his parents, and…well, a couple of days away from your Dad."

"I guess so."

"Is something else wrong?"

"No." Tai said, a little too quickly, as he turned his head to look in any direction that Sora wasn't currently occupying.

"Don't go all quiet on me here, Tai. I get enough of that from Matt." Sora said, sternly.

"Well, if Yama's allowed to be quiet why aren't I?" The brunette moaned.

"Because it's in his nature to be quiet, not yours."

"How do you know?" Tai questioned, agitated. "We've only known each other for a couple of days!"

"That's all it takes to know these things, sometimes." She replied, allowing a soft smile to flicker across her lips.

"Tell that to Yama…"

"What do you mean?"

"He…" Tai stopped, keeping his mouth firmly shut.

"Oh c'mon, Tai. Spit it out!" She smiled, rubbing his shoulder again.

"He…he said that we didn't get together because we liked each other, but just because we both wanted a boyfriend."

"What?" Sora gasped. "Why would he say that?"

"Because we don't know the stupid little things about each other that real friends, and real boyfriends, are supposed to know about each other."

"Well…" Sora reasoned. "There's more to liking someone than knowing all those little facts about each other, right?"

"That's what I was thinking!" Tai cried out, sitting down on a patch of grass for a moment. Sora sat next to him.

"Y'know…" She started, stroking Tai's hair. "Matt can get like that sometimes."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, he just has these weird panic attacks about stupid things, sometimes, and then he'll go hide for a while and pout to himself. I call it his angst overdrive." She smiled, reassuringly. "Give him a day or two and he'll be back to normal."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, Tai. You think this is bad? You should have seen the last time he started over thinking things." She closed her eyes as she laughed, thinking back to the event. "I mean, he…"

"Wait here."

"Wait…what?" Sora answered, watching Tai get up and stride away powerfully. "Where are you going?"

Tai didn't answer. He continued walking forward, malice flowing out from behind his usually warm, caring eyes, towards a gathering in the distance. He could just make out Izzy's small, stony figure backed up against a wall by a small group of four students. They looked to be a little older than him.

"What's the matter?" A tall, gangling boy said, leering in so that he was almost nose to nose with the redhead. "Am I invading your personal space?"

"Y-yes." Izzy mumbled, refusing to make eye contact. The other kids laughed at the comment.

"Well this is my space, too." The boy continued, mockingly. "You don't own it."

"This is my space."

"No, it's not."

"My space."

He laughed, running a hand over his chin. "Well, what are you going to do about it nutjob?"

"I'll invade your personal space so fast that you won't know what day of the week it is." Tai interrupted, grabbing the older boy by the shoulder and pulling him backwards onto the floor, much to the amusement of his friends.

"D-don't!" He yelled, trying to get to his feet. His face was beet-red. "Don't laugh!"

"What's the matter, I thought you liked to give your friends something to laugh at?" Tai responded, pushing his foot into the boy's chest, forcing him back down onto the ground again with a crunch. The laughter grew even louder. Tai brought his face nose to nose with the bully. "And I thought you liked sharing space!"

"Tai, what are you doing?" Sora exclaimed, rushing up beside him.

"This dweeb is bullying Izzy!" Tai responded, pulling away again.

"What?" Sora gasped, shoving her own foot into the boy's chest as he tried to get up again. "Our Izzy?"

"Speaking of which…where'd he go?" Tai replied, worried. The other kids laughed even more. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."

"C'mon Tai, let's go find him. We've still got a few minutes before we need to head for registration."

"Sure thing." They left quickly towards Tai's home room, A3, leaving the giggling rabble behind them.

"Do you think he'll have come in here?" Sora asked as they reached the door.

"Well, it'd follow his morning routine to come here." Tai shrugged, turning the handle. "And I assume he likes his morning routine."

"I guess…"

"Izzy, you in here?" Tai whispered into the room, looking around. At first there appeared to be no one around, as nothing but a clean, empty room answered them. But upon closer inspection the pair found that someone was hiding behind a table, knees pulled up to his face. That someone had spiky, red hair. "Aah, found you."

"Hi, Izzy." Sora greeted, kneeling down beside him – not too close to him, though.

"You alright, dude?" Tai said, sitting on the table so that his feet were dangling a little bit in front of Izzy's face.

"Thank you. For what you did." Izzy said, ignoring the question.

"Err…don't mention it." Tai replied, grinning.

"Why not?" Izzy raised his head and tilted it in question. "I have never understood why people say that when someone thanks them, Taichi."

"Well, I uh…" Tai struggled, looking to Sora for support.

"I guess we don't really think about what we say as closely as you do sometimes, Izzy."

"It's not always good when you think as much as I do, Sora." He answered, lowering his head again. He stayed silent for a few seconds. "I'm glad you came to school earlier than you did yesterday, Taichi and Sora."

"So are we, Izzy." Tai responded.

"Where is Yamato Ishida?"

"It's…err, a long story." Tai evaded, smiling.

"And we don't have much time." Izzy said.

"We don't?" Sora asked, but as she said it a buzzing sound rang throughout the classroom.

"It's time to head for registration, and your classroom is on the other side of school." Izzy replied, standing. "And it's time for me to sit on my chair, now."

"I guess I should get going then, guys." Sora said, a little taken aback. She got to her feet. "If you ever have trouble with anyone, you know you can come to us for help, right?"

"Yeah, whenever you need us, Izzy."

"Thank you."

"Don't…" Tai started, but then stopped, thinking about what Izzy had said earlier. "Anytime, Izzy."

"Yeah, anytime." Sora said. "Bye guys."

"See you." Tai replied, waving. The room remained silent for another minute or so, before Izzy mumbled something to Tai under his breath. "What was that, dude? I can't hear you."

Izzy took a deep breath, and tried again. "Do you think I'm a nutjob?"

"Yes. I really, honestly do." Tai said, laughing. "But whoever said there was something wrong with that?"

"Thank you." Izzy replied, quietly. He looked like he was almost going to smile.

"Anytime."

* * *

Yamato sat in his self-designated spot on the couch, knees curled up beneath him, as he flicked through the mind-numbingly dull channels that were currently running on T.V. A sigh escaped his lips.

"How am I supposed to relax in somebody else's house for a whole day or two, on my own, when there's not even anything interesting to watch?" He muttered, switching the box off with a scowl. "Stupid daytime T.V…"

At that, a buzz sounded throughout the house, piercing through the previously comforting blanket of silence that had enveloped the house.

"Who could that be?" Yamato wondered, standing up and heading towards the front door. It was still rather early in the morning. Tai and his family wouldn't be back until later in the afternoon; and even if one of them had returned home, for whatever reason, they had keys. They wouldn't need to buzz.

"What if it's…?" He froze, as his mind wondered across all sorts of scary possibilities. Maybe Tai's dad had returned for more. Perhaps his own parents had come to find him and take him home. Maybe the police were here to take him into safer custody because they had changed their mind.

The buzz sounded again. Yamato took a deep breath, and peeked out of the window beside the front door, nervously. Standing at the gate outside was the barely familiar figure of a man; of Sora's father, in fact.

"What the…?" Yamato muttered to himself. Of all the people that could have come calling, this was the last person that he expected. 'Except, maybe, the queen of England, or something'. He took another deep breath, shaking away the ludicrous thought that had randomly entered his head, and picked up one of the spare gate keys. He opened the door.

Sora's father looked just about ready to turn and leave by that point, but upon seeing the door open, tentatively, he stood to complete attention. Yamato carefully walked towards him, convincing himself that his persistent trembling was caused solely by the fact that it was cold out, and the he was only wearing pyjamas, as opposed to the feeling of fear, and dread, that was growing steadily in the pit of his stomach. He kept his eyes lowered.

"Yamato."

"Mr Takenouchi." Yamato replied, stopping in front of the gate.

"Would you mind if I came in to talk? It's a bit cold out here."

"I'd rather not, Mr Takenouchi."

"Please, call me Haruhiko."

"I'd rather not, Mr Takenouchi." Yamato repeated, raising his gaze. The sight he came across wasn't one of aggression, or frustration; or even confidence. The sight he saw, instead, was one riddled with anxiety. Mr Takenouchi was avoiding eye contact, and shuffling his feet awkwardly. Any feelings of danger that Yamato had previously associated with this man left in a flash. He stuck the key in the gate.

"Thank you." Mr Takenouchi offered, bowing his head slightly as Yamato opened the gate wide. "Lead the way in?"

Yamato nodded, and did as he was asked.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot since we last, er…talked." The man said as they went, rubbing the back of his neck. "And, as I'm sure you'll agree that I owe you an apology, Yamato."

The blonde halted for a small moment in surprise, before entering the house in silence. Mr Takenouchi followed, closing the door behind him.

"And you don't have to say anything, if you don't want." He continued. "I just want you to understand a couple of things."

"Ok." Yamato answered, feeling slightly embarrassed. "C'mon, we'll go and sit down so…so you can talk."

"That sounds good." He nodded, following Yamato into the kitchen. They sat down at the table, opposite each other.

"I'd offer you a drink, but I don't know where anything is in this house."

"That's fine, Yamato." Mr Takenouchi said, still smiling as awkwardly as ever. "I don't think I'm going to be here for too long, anyway."

"Hmm." Matt nodded, slightly.

"…I guess we should have a go at luring the elephant from the corner, shouldn't we?"

"I guess so." Matt nodded, again.

"Ok, here goes…" Mr Takenouchi said. "…I'm sorry, Yamato. I'm sorry for treating you any differently than I would treat any other civilised person. And any excuses that I've made, or will make, won't change the fact that I was wrong to act in the way I did."

"…thank you." Yamato replied, nodding.

"No, Yamato. Thank you." He continued, dropping the awkward smile to replace it with a heartfelt one. "I've always been a little afraid, you see. Afraid of change; afraid of life. And that's always blurred my vision a little."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I heard that you were...that you were gay, I wasn't ever angry, or annoyed, or scared, of you. In all honesty, your preferences don't bother me in the slightest."

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem, Yamato, is that I know from experience how bad people can treat those who are different." He smiled, placing a hand on Yamato's from across the table. "I was angry, and annoyed, and scared of society, and I guess I was afraid that any problems that came your way, because of how you are, would come in Sora's way, too. So I tried to keep you out of her life."

"Oh…"

"…but I shouldn't have acted against you like I have done. I should be doing my part to make life better for you. Sora would say the same." He stroked his chin for a moment, and continued. "If she wants to be your friend, then it's her job as a friend to share every bit of pain that you have to take, and help you out with it; just as it's her job to share every bit of pleasure that you gain from life."

"…you mean it?"

"Yes, Yamato. I mean it. And I shouldn't be scared of that, either. I should embrace the fact that she is mature enough, and brave enough, to do such a thing – even when her stupid father was scared of the fact that she was willing to do it."

"Ok. Thank you, Mr Takenouchi."

"So, do you understand now?" Mr Takenouchi asked. "None of this was ever personal. And I don't want you to go through life thinking it was. That…that someone disliked you for such a thing as being gay."

"I get you." Yamato smiled. "You were just afraid. Afraid, for Sora."

"Yes, Yamato. I just got a little scared. But it's clear, now, that it's important not to let that fear affect you so heavily." He said, looking Yamato in the eyes. "I've learnt that much from you. No matter what, I won't let fear affect my decisions like this again. No matter what."

"Thank you…" Yamato uttered, again. His mouth was hanging slightly ajar.

"No, Yamato. Thank you. Thank you for everything." The man smiled, standing up. "Of all the close friends that Sora could have ever had, I'm glad that you're one of them."

He raised himself from his chair and began to walk from the room, and Yamato got up to follow him. They made their way to the gate before Mr Takenouchi stopped to add one last note. "Whenever you need somewhere to go, or someone to run to, well…you're always welcome with us. Consider yourself as good as family, Yamato." At that, Yamato unlocked the gate and let the man out onto the street.

"It's an honour…Haruhiko." Yamato said. Mr Takenouchi smiled, looking almost teary-eyed, and strode back to his house.

Yamato remained outside in the garden for a few minutes. He watched as cars drove past; as the gate locked on its own; as the sun began to rise from behind the clouds in the distance, and as a small, scrapped drawing of a young pair of boys blew along the ground in front of him.

There were a lot of things that scared him about the world, he thought. A lot of things that he would never understand, or make his peace with. But, as Mr Takenouchi had told him, it was important to not let that fear affect his decisions too heavily. Whether that fear came from his relationship with his parents, the aspect of his relationship with Tai, or simply the acceptance of his relationship with himself.

He sat on the steps in front of the front door.

"I have…I have a lot of thinking to do."

* * *

"Heya Tai! Over here!" Sora shouted, waving Tai over to a spot on the grass. She was sitting with two other children whom Tai hadn't seen before.

"Coming!" Tai shouted over, before turning to Izzy who was at his side. "C'mon, Izzy. Let's go meet the newbies." The pair walked over and plonked themselves on the ground: Tai beside Sora, Izzy behind Tai.

"Izzy?" Sora asked, smiling.

"It's ok, dude, don't be shy." Tai said, budging over so that the spiky haired boy could be seen. "So, who are these guys?"

"These guys are Mimi and Joe."

"Hi, Tai is it?" Mimi said, moving nearer to him. "Are you free this weekend?"

"I guess so…" Tai answered, a little taken aback. "…why?"

"There's this new sale coming up at the mall, and I need people to come with me as reinforcements. We can't have anyone else getting my precious new shoes!" She positively squealed when she said the final word.

"I mean, er…" Tai stuttered, budging further away from her. "…I'm not free. I just got confused with the question."

"Oh, you're not too bright are you?" She laughed, smiling. "That's ok. We'll have to take a rain check!"

"And who's this?" Tai motioned towards Joe, trying his hardest to change the topic. He did not want to be pinned down into going to the mall at any time in the future.

"I'm Joe." The bluenette said, offering his hand. Tai took it. "Don't get too close, or anything. I feel a cold coming on."

"You said the same thing yesterday Joe!"

"Because I felt a cold coming on yesterday, too!"

"Easy, guys." Tai laughed, scratching his head. "By the way, this little bag of delights here is Izzy."

"I don't want to go to the mall." Izzy said, pre-empting Mimi's exclaimed invitation. "And I don't want a cold. I'm not going to shake your hand."

"Finally, someone with some sense…" Joe said, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"But I don't mind if you come to my place tonight."

"Wha…what?" Joe said, laughing at the expression on Mimi's face. "Was that supposed to be a pick up line?"

"Oh, yeah." Tai interrupted, smiling. "I forgot to tell you. Izzy's parents invited us to his house tonight for dinner!"

"Ooh…" Mimi and Joe exhaled, grinning.

"So I guess we can all go together!"

"Do you need directions, Mimi and Joe?" Izzy asked, unsure about what they were laughing at.

"It's ok, Izzy." Sora said, smiling. "I gave them my address yesterday. They can come to my place, and then we'll go to yours as a group."

"When do you want us there?" Joe asked.

"Five o'clock." Izzy answered, fiddling with the grass below him.

"Sounds great, Izzy." Sora said.

"Woah, I just remembered!" Tai blurted out, jumping to his feet. "I gotta go and, yeah!"

"…what was that about?" Mimi said, watching as he sprinted off towards the school.

"I don't know, maybe he saw some shoes on sale." Joe replied, sarcastically.

"You think?" She squealed, standing up to look.

"Sure…"

Tai made his way back towards the gym, following the route that Yamato had shown him yesterday. He had decided last night that he would apply for a sport that didn't discriminate against his penis.

Before he could reach his destination, however, he was stopped by three students. One of whom, a tall, brown haired character, had come forward with his hand outstretched. "Hey, dude!"

"Something I can help you with?" Tai answered, shaking the boy's hand tentatively.

"There's a lot you can help me with._ Us_, with." He answered, moving and putting an arm around Tai's shoulders. "I'm Akira. This here is Yutaka, and this is Takashi."

"Together…" Yutaka said.

"…we're the teenage wolves!" Takashi exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.

"Except…" Yutaka said.

"We don't have a singer." Takashi finished, again.

"…you're kidding me." Tai said, rubbing his head.

"Not even a little, dude." Akira answered, moving to stand back over by his band members. "But…we heard your friend singing yesterday."

"Yeah, he rocked!" Yutaka exclaimed.

"So, would you mind telling him we think that?" Akira asked. "We need him, badly."

"Sure, I bet he'd be thrilled." Tai answered.

"Cool!" Takashi shouted, running into Tai and giving him a huge hug. He nearly knocked him over in the process. "Finally!" He streamed off, teary eyed.

"Easy." Akira said, rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, we're in Music 2 every lunch time!" Yutaka informed.

"Except for now, of course." Akira added, smiling.

"So tell him to come find us sometime!"

"And then we can become rock legends together!"

"And…we…" Takashi tried. Most of his sentence came out as an inaudible mess since he was saying it into Tai's shoulder. "…then…"

"I said easy, Takashi." Akira said, grabbing Takashi around the chest and pulling him back.

"I can't imagine what he's going to do when he actually meets your friend…" Yutaka smiled.

"We didn't catch your name?" Akira said, still restraining the excitable Takashi.

"I'm Tai, and my friend is called Yamato."

"Great. Well, thank you…Tai." Akira said, shaking Tai's hand again. "Remember, Music 2 – every lunch time. We wanna hear from him soon."

"I'll tell him."

At that, the trio walked off – in Takashi's case, bounded off – and Tai continued on his journey, feeling the slightest bit puzzled by the random encounter.

Before long, however, he had found his way to those oh-so large, oh-so recognizable doors, and when he entered he immediately saw the 'rough around the edges' gym teacher from yesterday. She was drawing on a clipboard.

He walked past her and moved on towards a tall, red haired woman who was standing in the corner. She had a whistle around her neck.

"Excuse me?"

"Yep?" She answered, looking him in the eyes.

"I was wondering, do you know who I can talk to about joining the soccer team?"

"You got lucky, kid. That would be me."

"Oh, ok then…" He replied, grinning. "…I'm Taichi Yagami, and soccer is a bigger part of my life than food, maybe. Can I join the team?"

She waited for a moment, silently, before laughing hysterically. "…food, maybe!" She exclaimed, laughing some more. "Oh, my…"

"So, is that a no?" Tai asked, pouting.

"No, no…" She laughed, shaking her head. "It's a maybe."

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Because you're funny, Yagami." She smiled, shaking his hand. "I'm free right now. You want to show me what you can do? If you prove to be something good then you'll get into our training ranks, and when you're considered good enough you'll be put in the team. Sound fair?"

"Totally fair."

"How about we go out to the nets and you show me how good you are at shooting. That alright with you?"

"You don't know the half of it." He winked, knowing just how mind blown she was going to be after this. The day had started off as one of the worst of his life but, somehow, it had transformed into one of the best.

* * *

It was the end of a long day at work for Michael. He had been teaching art throughout the whole day due to an unreasonable lack of free periods, and as such he had spent a huge amount of time on his feet. As he had already told his colleagues a few times earlier in the day, they were aching like nobody's business.

During his lunch break he had taken to marking some work by the soccer pitch, and instead of a relaxing time alone he had been offered the opportunity to observe some of Tai's aforementioned 'mad soccer skills'. Clearly the boy and his friend, Yamato, hadn't been exaggerating when they mentioned this particular skill. Tai had amazing ability. It made a great conversation topic for the walk home.

"…and I couldn't believe that nothing went wrong." Tai rambled on, smiling wide. "I mean, I thought for sure that I was being too arrogant about it, and I wouldn't actually be as good as anyone else."

"That seems illogical, Taichi." Izzy piped in with a flicker of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe, but I'm just so shocked by it all!"

"Yeah, me too!" Sora exclaimed, laughing. "I mean, they put you straight on the team after one session?"

"Yeah, basically."

"That's never happened before, Tai." Michael said, smiling.

"And she said I might even end up as captain someday." Tai continued, bouncing up and down.

"Goodbye Taichi, Sora and Michael Horn." Izzy said, abruptly crossing the road to head towards his house.

"Goodbye Izzy!" Everyone said, waving at him. They were growing used to his abrupt exits.

"Looks like this is my stop, too." Sora said, turning into her own garden. "Bye Tai, Bye Mr Horn!"

"Goodbye Sora."

"Bye Sora, see ya tomorrow!" Tai said, waving.

The pair walked on a little further, silently, until they reached Tai's front gate. The brunette unlocked the gate. "Hey, Michael?"

"Yes Tai?"

"I was wondering about a couple of things…" Tai said, standing still where he was. Michael followed suit.

"What is it?"

"Well, me and Yama…Yamato, Matt…whatever you call him." Tai laughed, awkwardly. "He told me that he wants to be just friends for a while, so we can get to know each other better before we decide to get all lovey dovey, and stuff."

"I see. Are you happy with that?"

"Well, I'm not sure." Tai pondered. "I see where he's coming from, but I don't see why it's so important to him. I mean, couldn't we learn about each other whilst we're together?"

"It's possible. Perhaps recent events have caused our Yamato to short circuit?" He smiled.

"Maybe. That's basically what Sora was saying. That Yama has panic attacks, and over thinks things sometimes."

"Then there's your answer. Be patient and let him get it out of his system. He'll get his thoughts together soon enough, I'm sure."

Tai thought for a moment, before changing the topic slightly. Something had been niggling at him over the last couple of days. "You really like Yama, don't you?"

"I do." Michael answered, simply.

"How long have you known him?"

"Since he was born, Tai."

"Really? Tai gasped.

"Yes. He doesn't know that fact, of course. It never came up." Michael said. "I used to babysit him when he was younger, but I fell out of contact with his parents eventually and had to stop. Luckily, he ended up coming to this school, where I currently teach, and we got back into contact. Our first meeting in his eyes. So yes. I've got a bit of a soft spot for Yamato." He concluded.

"Right…" Tai mumbled off into silence for a moment. "…were his parents always bad, Michael?"

"No, they weren't." Michael answered. Tai went silent for a moment, wondering if he should voice his current thoughts, but Mr Horn managed to voice them for him. "And neither was your father."

"How do you know?"

Michael just laughed and, deciding that the conversation was over, he headed into the house.

"C'mon, Tai. Let's go see how Yamato is doing."

Yamato was asleep on the couch when Tai and Mr Horn entered the house, and he remained that way when the pair entered the warm, cosy room, and sat down around him.

"Oh, it feels good to sit down." Mr Horn sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I'm not as spry as I used to be, I guess."

"Must come with old age." Tai winked.

"Old age?" He answered, putting on a hurt expression. "How old do you think I am, exactly?"

"Well…"

"Actually, don't answer that." Mr Horn smiled, wryly.

"Ok." At that, Tai turned to face the sleeping blonde. He was curled up in a ball, still dressed in Tai's dinosaur pyjamas. "It smells bad in here, Yama."

"You know, I think you're right Tai." Mr Horn laughed, looking pointedly at Yamato.

"Too hard to shower, was it?" Tai joked along, prodding Yamato in the bottom. "C'mon; wake up, sleepyhead."

"Uuuuh…" Yamato responded, curling up into an even tighter ball. "…shut up."

"No!" Tai exclaimed, prodding Yamato - even harder this time.

"And I do not smell bad."

"You totally do, dude." Tai went on, laughing. "C'mon, open your pretty eyes and talk to us."

"Us?" At that, Yamato sat up and looked over at Mr Horn. "Oh, hi Michael. I guess I didn't hear you over the racket that Tai was making."

"What?" Tai exclaimed, clearly offended by such an accusation. "I wasn't making a racket!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that…" Yamato said, rubbing his eyes.

"Fine, you wanna be mean then I'm not going to tell you my great news!"

"…really?" Yamato said, tilting his head.

"Yeah!" Tai said, pouting and turning his head in the other direction with his arms crossed.

"…c'mon, tell me?"

"Nu-uh!" Tai pouted, again.

"...fine, I don't wanna know anyway!" Yamato said, mirroring Tai's body language perfectly.

A few seconds passed by like this, until Tai piped up and got into Yamato's face again. "C'mon, ask me what my great news is!"

"Like I wanna know!" Yamato scowled.

"It's about you!"

"…really?" He asked, tilting his head again.

"Ya-huh!" Tai laughed. "Some guys called the Teenage Birds asked me if, well; they're a band at school. There are three of them. The Teenage Eagles or something. And they heard you singing yesterday, and they said they want you to be their singer!"

"For sure?" Yamato exclaimed, gleefully.

"Yeah!" Tai assured. "You're gonna be the lead pigeon, or something!"

"I thought you said they were the Teenage Eagles?"

"I thought he said they were the Teenage Birds..." Mr Horn added.

"What? No I didn't!" Tai gasped, horrified. "I said they were the Teenage Wolves!"

"No you didn't!" Yamato and Mr Horn said simultaneously.

"Whatever." Tai responded, waving them to silence with his hand. "Anyway, they spend every lunch in Music 2, apparently; and they want you to go find 'em sometime!"

"Wow, that's fantastic news Tai!" Yamato said, giving the tanned boy a great big hug. "Thank you so much!"

"Hey, no need to thank me. You can thank them."

"Right, guys…" Mr Horn said, standing up. "I'm going to go and make some coffee. Just give me a shout if you need me for anything."

"Sure, thanks for coming to take care of us Michael."

"Yeah, you're our hero." Tai laughed.

"It's not a problem, guys." He said, before he walked out of the room with a contented smile on his face.

"He's a great guy, isn't he?" Yamato said, grinning. "Weird that he's a teacher though. Kinda creeps me out sometimes."

"Did you know he's known you your whole life, Yama?"

"What?"

"He knew your parents, and he used to take care of you when you were a baby. He told me so."

"You're kidding!" Yamato said, running a hand through his messy hair. "I had no idea. I wonder why he didn't tell me."

"Not a clue, I think he said it just never came up." Tai offered, shrugging his shoulders. "I think he might have known my Dad when he was younger, too."

"Wow, that's coincidental."

"Do you think they might have all known each other when they were younger?" Tai smiled. "How weird would that be?"

"Way too weird for reality, dude." Yamato laughed, stroking a hand through Tai's hair. "By the way, Tai, I want to talk to you about what happened this morning."

"About time." Tai smiled, taking Yamato by the hand. "What do you wanna say?"

"Well, I wanna say that for next day or two, let's be friends. That ok with you?"

"Sure, I guess." Tai shrugged his shoulder again, and offered a warm smile. "You're still my Yama, either way."

"That's fine by me."

"Do you mind if I ask something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why…why does it bother you so much, that we don't really know much about each other?"

"Because…" Yamato answered, running a hand through his hair again. "…I guess because it makes me feel like we got together all wrong, you know? Like we're a cheap couple in some mediocre romance story."

"Or porno." Tai added, laughing.

"Yeah, or some mediocre porno."

"Well, you can't say fairer than that, I guess…" Tai conceded, sighing.

"Just…give me some time to get over myself, Tai." Yamato smiled, embarrassed.

"As long as you need, Yama." Tai smiled, kissing the blonde on the forehead. At that, they both heard a car pulling up outside, and numerous car doors slamming. "Looks like Mom's home!"

The pair got to their feet and went to the door to greet the rest of the family, but when they got there they found an extra surprise waiting for them.

"T.K.!" Yamato shouted, pulling the younger boy into a crushing embrace and lifting him up into the air. "What are you doing here?"

"Kari said you missed me, so I asked if I could come see you!"

"That's why we're a little late, Yamato." Mrs Yagami smiled, ruffling the hair on both of their heads. "I had to go to your Grandma and ask permission, and she said that T.K. can stay with you for as long as you like. We have more than enough space."

"Thank you so much, Mrs Yagami." Yamato said, putting T.K. down to give her a hug instead. "I hope this isn't any inconvenience for you."

"Not at all, dear." She laughed. "You can stay here as often, and for as long, as you ever need or want."

"You don't know how much this means to us. And I've not yet had a chance to talk to you about my living here, yet…" He mumbled off, slightly awkwardly. "…I don't have any money, but I'm a great cook, and I can teach Kari piano for free, and I can keep Tai out of your hair-"

"Hey!" Tai interjected, looking genuinely hurt.

"Don't be silly, dear." She replied, stroking Yamato cheek caringly. "I don't expect anything in exchange."

"Yuuko, I've made some coffee if you would like some?" Mr Horn interrupted, grinning like a love struck puppy.

"I would love some! Thank you, Michael." At that, she turned and headed into the kitchen. "Remember Yamato, and you T.K. Make yourselves as comfortable as you like, and don't feel awkward. Our home is your home."

"Wow…" T.K. said, smiling. "She's nice. I think I wanna live here. It doesn't smell funny like it does at my place..."

"Clearly you haven't smelt Yamato, yet." Tai winked.

"Screw you, airhead!" Yamato said, slapping Tai around the back of the head.

"You wish, blondie!" Tai replied.

"Geez, you two sound like you should be on T.V.!"

"Yeah, I'd watch your show." Kari laughed. "You could argue every episode!"

"We're no worse than you and _your_ friend, T.K." Yamato laughed.

"Are too!"

"Am not!" He argued, sticking his own tongue out. "You should check out his friend, Tai. Now that I think about it, he's what I imagine you to be if you were a few years younger."

"Amazingly charming?" Tai winked.

"Yeah…sure..." Yamato said, evasively. Everyone laughed at the comment, and they all headed into the living room to catch up on everything that had happened recently. Yamato couldn't help but feel like he was part of a real family again. For the first time in years; perhaps in his whole life, he had found his true home.

* * *

It was six o'clock in the evening, and the sun was falling lower in the sky outside. An hour ago, Tai, Sora, Joe and Mimi had all made their way over to Izzy's house across the road for dinner, leaving Yamato to catch up with his brother.

Izzy had turned out to be far more laid back when he was in his home environment, going as far as to allow people to physically touch him. Tai even got away with patting him on the head. Although, when he pushed his luck too far and tried to hug Izzy, he had received a punch to the stomach. Everyone had called that fair game, Tai included.

Izzy's mother had been an unexpected surprise, too. She was, in Sora's words, nuts in every sense. But wonderfully weird, all the same. Izzy's father, in comparison, was an oasis of normality – and even he wouldn't allow any of his food to touch food of a different colour.

When they had finished their meal they had all vacated to the living room to talk, rather exuberantly, and watch T.V. together. Mimi, who had won the battle for the remote, had turned on a fashion show and was attempting to teach everyone about the season's hot colours this year. Izzy's parents listened intently.

"This has been great getting to know everybody." Tai said with a charming smile.

"It really has Tai. And you're always welcome to come here for more get-togethers." Izzy's Dad smiled, laughing. "We've never had so much fun before! Maybe we should get some friends, dear…"

"Oh, what's the use?" She laughed. "They'd just get tired of us anyway!" Everybody started giggling together again, at full volume. Something was truly infectious about the Izumi family. Everything was good.

But as Tai had come to realise in the past couple of days, life was never simple for long. Reality came flooding back to him in the form of a police car slowing down and parking in front of his house. He got to his feet.

"Tai?" Izzy asked, standing with him immediately.

"Wait here, everyone." Tai answered, putting his shoes on and heading for the door. Naturally, everybody followed him.

By the time Tai had got outside, the police officers had already buzzed in at his gate, and Tai's Mom had already come to greet them. A look of worry was smashed over her face in an instant.

"Mom, what is it?" Tai shouted, shakily. He ran up to her. "Mom?"

"You're Tai, correct?" One of the police officers said, recognising his face from the previous night. "I suppose, since all of you are involved closely with Yamato, you have every right to hear this too."

"Tai, it's Yamato's father…" Mrs Yagami said, stroking his hair.

"…he's been hospitalised due to alcohol poisoning, Tai. And he's in a critical condition right now." The police officer finished, bowing her head. "We don't know if he will last the night."

"R-really?" Tai stuttered, with his jaw wide open. He turned towards his house. Yamato, holding T.K.s hand in his own, was walking down the garden towards them.

* * *

**Wow, that was just a _bit _long, wasn't it? Either way...I hope you enjoyed it! I worked my ickle bottom off on this chapter.**

**I don't expect bigger, more complimentary reviews just because I wrote a bigger chapter. :P Haha, if I wanted my ego to be any larger, I would have split this into 3 chapters to get more reviews out of you, and I would have found a way to bring up the fact that my penis is thirteen inches long when flaccid.**

**...ok, it isn't.**

**So yeah, tell me what you thought, guys. Highlights? Lowlights? Bright lights? (great song)**

**I NEED MEDICINE! *pleads* GIVE ME MEDICINE!**

***ears perk up***

**...IM WALKING ON SUNSHINE! AGHHHH! :D**


	8. Progression

**I have to admit, everybody, I'm very excited. I've been writing fanfiction since August 2010! You know what that means, right? I've officially been doing this stuff for over a year, now! How freakin' awesome is that? Well, I thought it was exciting, anyway...**

**...well, how about the fact that this fic has been going for nearly a year, now? Is that exciting? Or does it just annoy you to think about how long it's taking me to actually finish this?**

**Anyway, you're approaching the final few chapters now. Remember, though! My chapters are becoming pretty big. So don't fear a cop out, or anything, guys. The ending won't be rushed. It's been planned out for a long, long time.**

**Anyways, before you get reading I just wanna take a tiny bit of your time and thank you all for getting this far into the story. I'm infinitely grateful for all that you've done, and I can't really express just how much it means to me to see that this story still gets people reading it.**

**Well, all of the general warnings reside in chapter one. If you don't remember them, though, then you should go take a look.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Yamato stood beside his father's hospital bed, rigidly, with his fists curled at his sides. The knuckles had long since turned a pale, bone white.

"Are you cold, Yamato?" T.K. asked, curiously. The younger boy was sitting down in a chair on the other side of the bed, with his kneed pulled up to his chin.

"Hmm." Yamato responded, dully.

"…do you want to borrow my hat?"

"No thanks, T.K."

"Maybe you should have got changed before we came here…" T.K. continued. "Those pyjamas don't look too toasty."

"I'm fine, T.K."

"I'll go ask Tai's mom if she can get you something hot from the vending machine."

"Hmm." Yamato nodded, tentatively raising a hand to rub his younger brother on the shoulder as he walked by.

"It's no problem." T.K. smiled. He left the room and it fell into an abrupt, yet short lived, silence.

"I'm so sorry, Dad…" Yamato cried, quietly, falling down onto his knees with a muffled thump.

"If it wasn't for me, you'd never have got like this." He choked, letting his tears fall down onto his father's bed covers. "You never drank so bad before you found out what I was. You never shouted so much, and you never slept so much; not before you found out what I was. It's all my fault. I should be the hospitalised one, not you! It's all my fault!"

He took his father by the hand and held it tightly. "It's all my fault…"

He bowed his head, and through his hazy, blurred vision, something on his father's under-arm caught his attention. A tattoo that Yamato had always known was there, but had never really taken heed of before.

"S-Susy?" Yamato questioned, almost laughing to himself despite the situation. "Who's she supposed to be, Dad?"

T.K. returned a couple of minutes later, holding two small, plastic cups, and after giving Yamato his cup he returned to his seat. He didn't say anything. He just watched as his brother quietly conversed with his unconscious father. And he didn't cry. He was going to be strong.

Strong, like his big brother.

* * *

"Hiroaki is going through respiratory depression." Michael stated, taking a seat beside Yuuko. He had been talking with a pair of doctors for the last five minutes, trying to make sense of the situation at hand. "That's what they said, anyway."

"What's respiratory depression?"

"In short?" He said, frowning. "It means that he's entered a coma, and that he may well stop breathing at some point soon."

"And then…"

"Yes."

"Oh, my…" She moaned, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"They told me that they can only do one thing in this kind of situation, Yuuko." Michael continued. "They've inserted a breathing tube, and now they're hoping for the best. All we can do now, I guess, is wait."

"But waiting could take us either way!" Yuuko asked, standing up with a groan. "He could die tonight."

"He could."

Yuuko sighed, heavily. "I feel so helpless, you know? And I can't imagine how bad the children must feel…do you have any idea where their mother could be?"

"I don't." He sighed.

She groaned. "This doesn't make any sense, Michael! Not a drop of it."

"…you don't remember them, Yuuko. Do you?"

"Remember who?" She asked, taken aback by the random question.

"Oh, it doesn't matter…" He answered, drifting into silence.

"Hey…" Yuuko started, ignoring his question as she sat back down again. "…you think Tai and Kari are going to be ok?"

"Well, they're staying with the Izumi's right now aren't they?"

"Yes, I know they are…" She conceded. "…I just can't help but worry about them whenever they're not in my sight, you know?"

"They're…"

"…strong, Michael. I know." She interrupted, the shadow of a smile passing over her face. He nodded.

They remained silent from there on out, comfortably uncomfortable in each other's company, until the doctors finally re-appeared to tell them that they needed to put Hiroaki under closer, emergency surveillance, and that his visitors would have to return home.

Yuuko thought it would probably be best for the children if they weren't around all night, just in case the worse came to worst. Michael couldn't help but agree.

* * *

"So…do you mind me asking?" Tai said, smiling guiltily at an upside down Mrs Izumi.

"Asking what, dear?"

"What…asking why, I mean, Izzy is so…" Tai attempted. "Well, you know…Izzy? Why is he so…?"

"You mean, why is he so different?" She finished for him.

"Yeah…" Tai lowered his head, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Tai." She smiled. "I'd prefer that people ask, instead of coming up with their own reasons behind his special attributes."

"Special attributes?"

"Well, do you not think that his unique attributes are rather special?"

"Of course I do, it's not that." Tai laughed, going slightly red. "I've just never, well…I'm not used to this kind of thing, you know?"

"Yes, I do know." She twisted around so that she was facing Tai, and warmly looked at him in the eyes. "And you don't need to feel so awkward around the subject, Tai. We're not awkward around it, and Izzy certainly isn't."

"Ah, well…that's good, then."

"It is." She smiled.

"Good." He said, shuffling in his seat. "So, anyway…"

"You want to know why he is the way he is?"

"Well…yes, please. If it isn't too much trouble, that is." He added as an after-thought, grinning.

"It's no trouble. It's just…it's hard, dear, to truly understand, and to truly express, what makes Izzy tick in the way he does."

"Well, I'll try my best to understand, mam, if you try your best to express it." Tai assured.

"Well, since you put it so fairly…" She cleared her throat.

"Um-hum." Tai nodded.

"It's because of his parents."

"His parents?" Tai asked, confused.

"Yes, his…his real parents. Or, perhaps biological parents would be a better way to put it."

"What do you mean?"

"…Izzy is yet to inform you?" She asked. "Izzy…he was orphaned at a very young age, Tai. Both of his parents were killed in a car accident."

"Oh…" Tai exhaled. "…I'm sorry."

"So were we."

"Was he involved in the accident?"

"No, he was staying with us at the time." She said. "We were taking care of him for the weekend whilst his parents went to a conference. His father was a respected mathematician, Tai; and he travelled a lot. We took care of Izzy when they did."

"So, if Izzy wasn't involved in the crash, what did make him so…so tightly wound?"

"Well, before I answer that, you should bear in mind that Izzy has always had his little quirks - even as a baby." She continued. "He just…he clicked in a different way to everyone else, dear. For his whole life. But he was never difficult to handle."

"So…what happened to make him change so much?"

"Well, he…he didn't know about his original parents, Tai. We were everything he knew." She said, biting a nail. "And then, a few years ago, we thought that he was old enough to handle the truth."

"And?" Tai ventured, already sensing that he knew the answer.

"Well…we told him. We told him everything, and nothing changed for a couple of days. Nothing noticeable, anyway." She smiled. "Then, one day, we heard him screaming at the top of his voice from his bedroom."

"What was wrong?"

"He had discovered that he was covered in germs."

"Oh, erm…"

"I think that, maybe, he was a time-bomb waiting to go off." Mrs Izumi continued. "And we detonated him, unintentionally. For a year or so he was a total emotional wreck. He didn't know how to take care of himself anymore. He was afraid of leaving the house. He was afraid of leaving his room, some days, and then other days he was afraid of leaving his bed."

"Woah…"

"Those were my thoughts at the time, too." She smiled. "I didn't know how to take care of someone who was so rattled. I mean, my husband can be a bit nutty sometimes, and I've been told that I'm not exactly the queen of sanity-ville..."

"Right…" Tai said, silently agreeing with the latter statement.

"…but we were nothing compared. And we didn't know what to do about him. We had no experience."

"So…what happened?"

"Thankfully he pulled himself out of it a little, after a while." The woman smiled. "He started to go outside on his own some days, and he started eating properly, too. I'm not sure what it was Tai. Nothing we did could help, but something he did, on his own, was a good start."

"And since then he's just been stuck in this stage?"

"Yes, I suppose that's the best way to put it Tai." She sighed. "He has his good days, and he has his bad days. But he's surviving as he is, in this stage. Somehow, though, I was hoping that all of you, as his first real friends, would pull him out of it. He just…he doesn't seem able to pull himself any further on his own anymore, Tai."

"Well, we're gonna do our best for him." Tai smiled, getting to his feet with a confident bounce. "We'll hang out with him after school whenever he feels like we're not getting in his way, and he can always come to mine when he wants to because I only live across the street! He's always welcome! And I'm in his group at school so I'll get to see him every day, and I'll be able to watch out for him, and make sure he's ok. If he ever needs help, I'm always there."

"Wow, that's…" She said, softly. A tear was slowly trickling down her cheek. "…that's quite the proposition, Tai. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

"It's what friends are for, right?" Tai grinned, cheerily.

Izzy, if he had been brave enough to reply, would have made clear that he didn't know, exactly, what friends were for. He'd never had one.

The red-head crept away from the doorway and went back to his room, filled with some vaguely familiar feeling; a feeling reminiscent of what he had felt that morning, when Tai had stood up for him against those bullies.

Perhaps, he pondered, that feeling was hope.

* * *

Mimi stood facing her body length mirror with a fluffy, pink towel wrapped around her body, and brushed her long, silky hair carefully.

"La la la la la…!" She sang out, cheerily, as she conversed with herself in her head. She couldn't help but feel a little downtrodden over the matter of how her friends had acted at school today. They had a serious lack of enthusiasm when it came to shopping, and that lack of enthusiasm was downright unhealthy.

"I wanna sing a song…!" Possibly, she thought, they would come to the mall with her if she went about inviting them in a less obvious, shop-a-holic kind of way. One that was less needy, and more tempting.

"…a song that will make you shop!" Perhaps she could find a sale at the mall that would aim towards their hobbies, or their interests. Maybe, that way, they would want to come with her.

"La la la la la la…!" That much should be easy. The only problem came with the lack of time that she had to research such things. The weekend was rapidly approaching, and with it approached the shoe sale. She had to find out about their hobbies quickly.

…new friends could be such a bother, sometimes.

* * *

"Tai, they're back!" Kari shouted from the porch, barely visible in the falling darkness, as she ran out onto the street towards her Mom's oncoming car.

"Kari! Wait up!" Tai yelled from the Izumi doorway. He was struggling to get into his shoes.

"I'll wait over here!" She said, stopping in front of their house. The car pulled up to the curb beside her. "Mom!"

Mrs Yagami waved from the driver's seat in response with an overly enthusiastic smile. T.K. mirrored her actions from the backseat, and when the car came to a complete stop he unbelted himself and exited the vehicle. "Hiya Kari."

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." He nodded. His eyes were glowing with some radiant bravery that Kari wasn't accustomed to seeing in him.

"Your hat is missing." She observed, smiling.

"I gave it to Yamato."

"More like forced it on me…" Yamato responded, as he walked past the pair and stood by the gate. The hat was, indeed, sitting on Yamato's head. It was clearly too small for him.

"You were cold!"

"I think it looks funny." Tai said, jogging up to the group. His shoes were on the wrong feet, but he was beyond caring. "We should get you one. It could be like a fashion statement, or something."

Yamato rolled his eyes.

"Shall we go inside, everyone?" Mrs Yagami piped in, pulling out a key and unlocking the security gate. Everybody followed her into the garden.

"It's cold out tonight." Mr Horn said, conversationally.

"Sure is." Tai replied, rubbing his hands together. "I can't believe you're only wearing pyjamas, Yama. They don't look too warm."

"I know! That's what I was telling him!" T.K. laughed, smiling up at his brother. Yamato's face remained stony. "You ok, Yamato?"

"How about I make you all hot chocolate?" Mrs Yagami said, seeing how upset the blonde currently looked. He had hardly said a word all night.

"Ooo great!" Kari exclaimed, hopping up the steps to their front door.

"I don't think I'd be able to deny such an offer." Mr Horn smiled. "But I might have to get going afterwards."

"Oh, ok…" Mrs Yagami replied, looking disheartened for a second, before unlocking the front door. "C'mon everybody, pile inside. I'll turn the heating on and get you all a hot drink."

"Cool!" Tai said, taking Yamato by the hand. The brunette led off towards the living room, whilst Mr Horn and Mrs Yagami entered the kitchen. T.K. and Kari, however, stayed in the hall, standing next to the piano.

"…why do you have a piano?"

"I don't know." Kari replied. "I'm pretty sure it was here when we moved in."

"Oh…"

"How are you feeling about your dad, T.K.?"

"I don't know."

"It's ok to be sad."

"I'm not sad!" The young blonde exclaimed. "I'm strong, I'm not sad!"

"You can be both, you know." She replied, softly. She didn't appear to be taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"No, no I can't!" He continued, clenching his fists. "I have to be strong, and not sad! Not anymore. Not over this!"

"Why not?"

"Because Dad isn't worth it! He's…he's horrible! He deserves it! He's dying and he…he…"

"It's ok, T.K." She said, patting him on the shoulder.

"He…he deserves it…" T.K replied as he slowly fell to his knees in tears. He turned his head so she couldn't see him.

"Don't be afraid. It's ok."

"I…I…"

"Yeah?"

"…I miss him, Kari." He finished, crying into his knees. "I do, damn it! I miss him, and I don't know why! But I miss him, still. And I love him!"

"I know, T.K. I know."

"And I don't want him to die…!"

"Are you ok, T.K.?" Mr Horn said, walking up to them. "Your hot chocolate's ready, so come on in and get it."

"Should we get the others?" Kari asked, pulling T.K. to his feet.

"Theirs…isn't ready yet." He smiled. "I'll get them later. Come on, guys."

The pair followed Mr Horn into the kitchen and sat down at the table with him and Mrs Yagami. They all drank from their cups, silently, for a few seconds.

"T.K.?" Mrs Yagami asked, smiling.

"Um-hum?" T.K. mumbled, still wiping his eyes.

"I just want you to know that, if you want to stay here with your brother, and with us, then you're perfectly welcome to do so." She said, smiling. "I mean, not just visiting. You can live here if you want to."

"If you don't want to, of course, it wouldn't be a problem for anyone." Mr Horn said, nodding his head. "You're not to feel pressured. But everyone would love for you to be here, if you would."

"I just wanted you to be sure that the offer was there." She continued, patting T.K.s hand. "That's all, T.K."

"Um-hum." He nodded, smiling slightly at the offer. "I'd…I'd like that, I think."

"Well, you don't have to decide right this minute, T.K., if you'd like to sleep on it." She replied, taking another drink from her cup. "It's alright."

"No, I…" He stuttered, looking at Kari for support. She nodded. "…I want to."

"That's…that's great, then. You can tell your brother when he gets here."

"O-ok."

"Good." She smiled. "Anyway, the reason we wanted to talk to you first, guys. Before Tai and Yamato, anyway…"

"What is it?" Kari asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but those two…they're having problems holding themselves up right now. Yamato, especially. I just wanted to ask that you two to take real good care of them." She smiled. "It's a big job."

"We can handle it!" Kari chirped.

"Y-yeah!" T.K. added, with a fairly distant, yet hopeful glint hidden behind his eyes, begging to shine through. "This way, I can be strong, because I'm taking care of Yamato; and I can still be sad, too, when I need to be..."

"Good." Mrs Yagami smiled. "The boys are very lucky to have you."

"Speaking of which…" Mr Horn started, draining the rest of his hot chocolate in one go. His face suggested that, perhaps, the drink was a bit too hot for such an action. He didn't comment on it, though. "…I'm going to go get the boys, and then I'm going to have to leave for the night."

"So soon?"

"Places to be, Yuuko. I'll be back tomorrow though."

"Straight after work?"

"Well, I'm afraid that I can't come here straight away. I have a meeting tomorrow after school hours, you see. But it won't take long."

"Ok, Michael." She nodded. "But will Tai be ok walking home without you?"

"Well, he has his friends doesn't he?" Mr Horn smiled. "But if you're not sure, you could ask him to wait around school for me. He wouldn't have to wait for all that long a time, I suppose..."

"No, that wouldn't be fair on him…"

"Ok, then. If that's settled, I'll go and tell them that their drinks are ready, and then I'll get going. See you tomorrow, Yuuko. Yes?" He smiled, his eyes lingering on hers for a second longer than seemed natural. "Goodnight, guys. Take care of Tai, and take care of T.K., Kari. And you, T.K.; you take care of Yamato. He'll be a lucky brother if you do."

"Thanks." T.K. grinned.

The boy was clearly an explosive box of unpredictable emotions, Mrs Yagami thought. Yet he may well have been the strongest spirit residing in the whole house. Yamato was, indeed, a lucky brother.

* * *

"…no, I can't really cook anything at all. I can make omelettes, sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Yamato asked, tilting his head.

"Well, occasionally it ends up on the floor, or gets burnt…" Tai admitted.

"You're helpless, Tai."

"I know." The tanned boy laughed cheerily and stuck out his tongue. His ears, Yamato noticed, perked up ever so slightly when he did that. "My turn for a question."

"Go ahead."

"What shoe size are you?"

"…why?" Yamato tilted his head again.

"Because I heard that if you have a big shoe size, you have a big…"

"Tai, Yamato! Your hot chocolate's ready." Mr Horn interrupted as he entered the room, smiling. "I'm going now, too, so I'll be seeing you sometime tomorrow. Alright?"

"You're leaving so soon?" Yamato asked, standing up.

"Why does everybody say that when I try to leave?" He smiled. "Fond of me, are you?"

"Of course we are!" Tai said, joining Yamato on his feet. Mr Horn smiled warmly at the answer.

"I won't see you until tomorrow afternoon…" Yamato added. "I'm still not allowed to go to school for another day."

"I know. And that reminds me, actually." The adult said, walking the pair into the entrance hall. "Tai, I won't be going home with you from school. I'm in a meeting."

"Oh. Well, that's fine. I can look out for myself." He said, puffing out his chest confidently. "Besides, I'll be with Sora and Izzy."

"That's good. Just make sure you keep yourself safe." He smiled. At that, Mr Horn shouted a warm "Goodbye, guys!" to the rest of the house, and left. Tai grabbed something from a hook on the wall a second later, and followed him out.

"Hang on, Mr Ho-erm, Michael."

"Mr Michael?" Mr Horn said, smiling. "I like the ring of that."

"Right…" Tai laughed. His teacher was weird. "…I need to let you out. The gate's locked."

"Oh, thank you Tai. I completely forgot."

"Whilst I'm here, though, I …" Tai said, walking down the garden path alongside the man. "…I wanna ask you something."

"What is it?"

"…why do you know everybody?"

"What do you mean?" Mr Horn replied, blankly.

"I mean…whenever a name comes up, you know the person behind it." Tai said, sticking the key into the gate. "You know?"

Mr Horn laughed, patting Tai on the shoulder. "You don't understand how I could know your parents, and know Yamato's parents too?"

"Well…yeah, that's about it. It seems a bit…"

"…suspicious?" He smiled.

"No, no." Tai assured. "It's not that."

"So what is it?"

"I just…I don't get it." He sighed, opening the gate wide. "Were you all friends, or something, when you were younger?"

"You know, you're more perceptive than you appear, Tai."

"So that's a yes?"

"In a way. Yes." Mr Horn stepped out onto the street. "But I'll tell you about it tomorrow, after school. I'm sure it'll all make a good story."

"I'll hold you to it, dude."

"…dude?"

"What, you don't like the ring of it?" Tai smirked.

Mr Horn laughed, and began to walk away down the street. "No, it just might take a bit of getting used to, Tai!"

"Yeah…" Tai said under his breath as he watched his teacher disappear into the distance. He couldn't help himself from thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was growing a little too attached to the man.

"C'mon, Tai!" Yamato shouted. He was still waiting by the front door, shivering slightly in Tai's dinosaur pyjamas.

"Yeah." Tai jogged over with the sound of the gate closing automatically behind him. "I'm here." He took hold of one of Yamato's cold, pale hands and placed it between two of his own warm, tanned ones. "You're really cold, Yama."

"Hmm." Yamato nodded, looking down at the floor. Tai gave the blonde a quick kiss on the forehead with a laugh.

"C'mon, let's go warm you up."

* * *

Mr Yagami lay crumpled upon an old, cushy sofa, half asleep, with his head resting comfortably against his folded orange blanket. His whole left side had grown numb from where he'd been resting his weight all day.

"Uuh, my head…" He mumbled, strenuously blinking over at the small window opposite him. It was dark out, but the dull light of some nearby streetlamp had found its way into the room, and was lighting up the sight around him.

Standing a few inches ahead of the man was a coffee table, which was laden with yellowing, paper pads. Behind that sat an old fashioned, dusty television set that looked absolutely devoid of use, and to its side resided a well-used leather armchair, which was either black, or brown. He couldn't decide which.

And then, as the long, tedious moments passed by, something rather odd occurred to him. He didn't have any idea, none at all, as to where he actually was.

"Wha…?" He croaked, lacking the motivation to fully voice his question. Not that it would have made a difference if he had finished it, of course. There wasn't anyone around to answer him.

Ignoring the abrupt eruption of ice-cold goose bumps that had risen from his upsetting discovery, Mr Yagami sat up and got to his unsteady feet with a drawn out groan. For now, he guessed, it didn't matter too much where he was, for a more important matter had come to hand.

He was thirsty; thirsty for that smooth, gratifying taste of his mind's favourite reset button; thirsty for that distinctive taste; the taste that could take away his pain; the taste that could take away his bitter edge, and leave him numb, and at ease.

Just one bottle would do. That's all it ever took.

Without a second thought, he made his way towards what looked to be a small, adjoining kitchen to the side; and upon discovering it, he bee lined straight for the fridge. His mouth began to water. He grasped the smooth, metal handle in front of him. He licked his lips.

At that, someone noisily started to unlock the front door behind him, and Mr Yagami froze in place. The stranger; a man, by the sounds of the breathing and the single sigh, soon entered, and upon spotting Mr Yagami, treaded carefully into the kitchen.

"Who's there?"

"You won't find any alcohol in the fridge." The stranger replied, softly. Mr Yagami shakily removed his hand from the fridge door. "Or anywhere in this place, for that matter. I don't drink."

"…you always were a bit stiff, Mike."

"So, do you like the place?" Michael answered, ignoring Mr Yagami's previous statement. "I can't imagine that you've been awake for long enough to take a good look around, but…?"

"Why am I here?" Mr Yagami shot back, moving to lean on one of the kitchen counters.

"You don't remember?"

"..."

"All of that drinking is finally catching up with you, then."

"Shut up, Mike."

"Oh, what am I saying…" Michael continued, totally ignoring the other man. "…your drinking caught up with you years ago, didn't it?"

"Shut up, Mike. And tell me what the hell I'm doing here."

"I told you last night." Michael said, as he walked over to the fridge and opened it. He pulled out a carton of juice. "You're staying here until you sober up."

"What?" He shouted. "I never agreed to that! I-I wouldn't!"

"I know. Even drunk as you were, you wouldn't have accepted such a thing." Michael responded, taking a quick drink from the carton. "But you don't have much of a choice."

"Says who?"

"Says me, Susamu. And the police, of course."

"The police? What the hell do the police have to do with this?"

"They're on the look-out for you." Michael frowned, placing his juice on the counter next to Mr Yagami. "Originally, I wanted you to leave the city by darkness - as soon as possible - you see. But…it occurred to me that someone in your condition would surely be noticed by the authorities. You can't drive straight if you can't see straight, Susamu. A drunk driver like you would stick out like a sore thumb if you tried leaving the city whilst everybody's on alert."

"So you're keeping me here to…to avoid being caught by the police?" Mr Yagami asked, bemused. Any leftover remnants of aggression in his voice were gone.

"I guess that's one way to put it."

"How do you know I won't just get up and leave?"

"I don't." Michael smiled. "But you'd be a fool to do so. I'm offering you shelter until your head's straight enough to get you out of the city unnoticed."

"Oh…"

"Besides, I've hidden your truck a few miles from here - and you don't know where it is."

"You're a rotten bastard, you know that?"

"What can I say?" Michael smiled. "You're basically stuck here. You may as well make the most of it."

Mr Yagami watched Michael drink his juice quietly for a few minutes, twiddling with his broad, tanned fingers, as he frowned unhappily to himself. His slow, fragile mind was starting to pick up on the fact that certain details were still missing.

"Is something wrong?" Michael asked.

"Well, it's just…Mike?"

"Yes?"

"I don't…I…oh, just forget it!"

"Suit yourself." Michael shrugged. A couple of moments past, before…

"…Mike, you never told me why the hell the police are after me again!" He exclaimed. "They only just released me!"

"You don't remember?"

"No!"

"You attacked your son, Susamu." Michael paused for a moment, before adding "again."

"…did I hurt him?"

"Not physically, no."

"Why don't I…why don't I remember?"

"I don't know." Michael said, sarcastically. "Probably because you'd inhaled enough alcohol that day to kill a large horse. To be honest, I'm surprised you even remember driving to Odaiba in the first place."

"Who could forget that traffic…"

"Are you trying to be funny, Susamu?"

"Argh, screw it!" He exclaimed, suddenly storming out of the kitchen. "Just forget I said anything, goddammit!"

"Suit yourself."

"And stop saying that!"

"…su-"

"Don't!"

"Fine. Now pipe down and go find something to keep you busy." Michael smiled. "I'm going to cook us dinner, soon."

* * *

Mrs Yagami couldn't believe it. She had missed her bus. Again. She could be so, so stupid sometimes. So lazy. Her mother was right. As usual.

"…e-excuse me?"

She thought that it was strange, though, that she was even going to school. After all, she had only just checked in on her children a half hour ago.

"Hello?"

And then she had gone straight to bed. Surely someone her age, with children, lying in bed, shouldn't be walking to school.

Should they?

"…please, please answer. Are you going to my school?"

She guessed so, because here she was. Strolling along. Late, as ever.

"P-please."

And, to top things off, she was being followed around by some clueless kid with a snobbish, foreign accent.

"I d-don't know where I'm going. I've never missed the bus before."

She should probably just go with the flow.

"You don't have to answer, but your bag has my school's name on it."

That's what people were supposed to do, right? Go with the flow? Enjoy the ride, and let it take its own time to start making sense?

"So…so I'm going to let you lead the way. I hope you don't mind, Yuuko."

He said her name. Her_ name_.

"Don't be alarmed. Your name is on your schoolbag, too."

Oh, that's not so weird then. Still, this kid was an oddity alright…

"I'm Michael, by the way. Nice to meet you, Yuuko."

Michael. What a pretty name. She hadn't heard it before.

"I really, really hope you're not deaf. If you are, it kinda means I'm just following a deaf girl around, talking to myself. That would be embarrassing."

Weird.

"Are we going to be late?"

"Michael." She said, finally opening her mouth. She smiled at him. "Shut up."

"Suit yourself."

Suit yourself? The kid was speaking like a damn grown up. Damn, posh boy. She opened her mouth to express that opinion to him. "You're a damn, posh boy!"

"A lot of people say that."

"Where are you from?"

"England." He said. "I've been living here for a year though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And even when I'm speaking a different language, I can't get rid of my stupid, smarmy accent. Who knew, eh?"

"You're funny." She laughed. "Do you have any friends?"

"No."

"Well, I have a friend."

"That's nice. What's she called?"

"She's not a she!"

"Oh, sorry."

"…and you can be my friend, too, if you want."

"Oh, thank you." He smiled, and brushed a hand against his short hair. "So, can you take me to school now?"

"Yeah, and then you can meet my friend, Susamu. We can all be friends together!"

At that, Mrs Yagami blinked a couple of times and found herself staring at her bedroom wall, unhappily. She was all on her own.

"Stupid…" She mumbled to herself, rolling over. Why, oh why, did she have to wake up so soon? It wasn't every night that she had the chance to dream about her childhood. And it certainly wasn't every night that she got to dream about her meeting with Michael. Tonight, in fact, had been the first time. It was interesting to look back on.

They had been very young at the time of that meeting. And they had been so innocent. So oblivious. Totally at peace with themselves, and each other, for a long, long time. Especially Susamu, at the time. If only, she wished, they could have somehow seen life coming. Perhaps things could have been different for all of them, if they had.

She rolled over again, and eventually went back to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. **

**I hope you enjoyed yourself, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	9. The Storm

**Hello everybody! You've officially made it to Chapter Nine of TMTFTF! Well done! You have some serious determination! There will only be one more chapter after this, and that will be followed by an epilogue at some point in the future. So we're pretty much pulling up to the end, now. **

**Anyway, I'm giving you another he-OWGE chapter here. I suggest that you put some time aside to read this.**

**If you are unaware of the general warnings surrounding this story, then please go ahead and take a look at Chapter One. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I've been thinking, Kari." T.K. yawned, through an attempted spoonful of cereal. Kari turned to face him with a smile. "Maybe we could go to the mall, or something, this weekend?"

"The mall?" Mrs Yagami interrupted with a worried tone, as she entered the kitchen and began to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Are you sure you're ok to be going to such a big place on your own, you two?"

"It's not that big, Mrs Yagami." T.K. assured. "And it's really safe. I've been there loads of times with my friend, Dai."

"I don't know…" She answered, awkwardly. "…it just doesn't seem responsible of me to let you two go somewhere like that all on your own."

"Maybe Tai could take us, Mom?" Kari pitched in, thoughtfully.

"You know, that sounds like a great idea!" Mrs Yagami said. She turned to look at the stony faced brunette, who currently resided on top of one of the kitchen counters at her side, and smiled. "What do you think of that, Tai?"

Tai, whose ears had perked up nervously at each and every mention of the dreaded building, thought it was an absolutely horrible idea.

"Well, Tai?"

"…it's ok." T.K. answered, when he saw that the edgy eyed brunette wasn't going to respond. "Don't worry Tai. I'll just get Yamato to take us."

"…wait!" Tai exclaimed, immediately sliding down from the counter. "If Yama's going, then I'm going!"

"Tai loves Yamato!" Kari sang, playfully laughing at her brother.

"Oh, quit your teasing and finish your breakfast Kari." Mrs Yagami said.

"Ok…"

"And shouldn't you be going to school soon, Tai?" She continued.

"Yeah, but I'm just gonna go say bye to Yama first." Tai replied, running out of the kitchen. They heard him falling up the stairs a few moments later.

"We'll be leaving in about ten minutes, guys…" Mrs Yagami sighed, ignoring the lengthy whine that her son had let off. She couldn't help but wonder: weren't athletes like Tai supposed to be graceful on their feet? "…and don't forget to brush your teeth."

* * *

Sora slowly fed pieces of her breakfast to the puppy eyed dog, who was whining for food from underneath the table, as her dad sat down opposite her and started to read the morning newspaper.

"I saw that."

"Saw what?" Sora replied, innocently.

"Stop feeding the dog."

"But I'm full!" She retorted, huffing.

"Then serve yourself smaller portions." He folded the paper down, and smiled. "We didn't buy you breakfast so you could feed it to him under there."

"Yeah, ok…" She bowed her head.

"Which reminds me, Sora…"

"Yeah?"

"…we need to go food shopping today, so make sure you get yourself home as soon as you've finished school. Don't be dilly dallying around with your friends, or anything."

"Sure, no problem." She smiled, before feeding the dog another bite of her breakfast.

"Sora." Mr Takenouchi warned.

"Sorry, Dad. He was giving me that look again…"

* * *

"…don't even think about it, Tai." Yamato mumbled from underneath a pillow. "I mean it, Tai. Don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" Tai asked, innocently, as he bent his knees to pounce.

"You know what." Yamato replied, dully. "I mean it, I'll kick your scrawny butt all over this room if you try anything."

"Huh…" Tai replied, straightening his legs back out. "…you're really not up for it, today?"

"No, I'm not." Yamato replied, sitting up with a frown.

"Ok …" The brunette smiled, awkwardly sitting on the bed beside the blonde. He placed a hand softly upon the boys head, and stroked his hair. "…can I ask you something?"

"What?" Yamato replied, taken aback by the request.

"Will you please, please hop in the shower today?" Tai grinned. "You're really stinking the place up."

"Hmph…"

"…I'll take that as a yes, then?"

"Whatever."

"And I'm gonna be going to school in a minute, dude, so I just, you know…" Tai continued, ignoring Yamato's indifferent comments. "…before I go, I wanted to see if you're gonna be ok. Ok?"

"I'll be fine."

"Good." Tai sighed, scratching his head. He gave Yamato a quick rub on the shoulder, a kiss on the forehead, and steadily got to his feet. "I'm gonna, you know…go."

"Bye." Yamato responded, a little quicker than seemed natural. Tai picked up on it, but didn't mention anything. He walked over to the door. "And Tai?"

"Yeah?" Tai smiled, patiently.

"Thanks for, you know…checking up on me? I…thanks, Tai." He attempted a weak smile. Tai's heart fluttered a little at the sight. "See you later."

* * *

Michael quietly shut his bedroom door behind him, and tip toed across the living room – past the body lying in a heap on the couch – with his shoes held in his hands. He didn't want to wake up Susamu. It would be best to let the man sleep for as long as possible.

Susamu was certainly sober by this point, Michael knew, and the after effects of his long term drinking had probably passed by now, too. Michael wasn't sure, though, how such a thing would affect Susamu's personality. The man had been using alcohol for most of his life to self-medicate, as Michael knew all too well. Susamu might be angry, and unpredictable, without it; more so than when he was drunk, even.

Thinking about it, Michael wasn't entirely sure how Susamu had managed to make it through his prison sentence – cut short or not –without going completely mad. He hadn't been given a single drop to drink. Without that, he must have had to live through those forgotten feelings he had tried so hard to drown; he must have had to feel those emotions that he didn't remember how to control. Withdrawal symptoms must have hit hard on all fronts.

Michael couldn't help but find it interesting, though, that whilst Susamu had somehow survived so long in prison without alcohol, and likely kicked the habit to the point that he could survive without drinking again if he chose, the first thing that he had done upon his release was drink himself into a stupor and chase his family. There were some questions, it seemed, that were harder to answer than others.

"Have a nice day today, Susy." Michael whispered, as he took one last look at the man. Susamu had his head resting on that old, orange blanket. As always. Michael smiled and slipped out of the door. "Don't do anything you might regret. I'd hate for something to happen to you, you know."

He locked the door and slipped into his shoes, trying his best to shake off the bad feeling that was currently running up and down his body. Hopefully, his worries were unneeded, and Susamu wouldn't wake up in anger. Michael sighed, and set off towards the school with stiff, cold legs, thinking deeply to himself all the way.

* * *

"So what are your hobbies, Tai?" Mimi asked immediately as the bushy haired brunette sat down with the group. Tai looked a little taken aback, at first, but his face quickly broke out into a smile.

"Well, I like video games, eating, running, climbing, gymnastics; soccer, of course…"

"Soccer?"

"Yeah, soccer. It's the best thing ever!"

"That's great…" Mimi mumbled off, drifting into a thoughtful silence. Tai watched her for a few moments, hoping that she'd ask him more about his favourite hot topic, but Mimi then turned to Joe and asked him the same question. "What are your hobbies, Joe?"

"Er, well…" Joe began, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Yagami!" Someone shouted out from behind them all of a sudden. Tai turned to face the noise, and saw a tall, red haired woman with a whistle drifting about her neck, running towards him.

"Coach?" Tai asked, getting back to his feet.

"Did you get my message?" She asked.

"What message?"

"We have a soccer match today in the afternoon!" She said. "It's the first of the season, and I'm taking you out of your lessons for it."

"Wait, why me?" Tai asked, bewildered. "I only joined the team yesterday!"

"You're better than half of the team who's been here for years." She smiled. "And I'm thinking that beginners luck can shine through, here. I wanna test you out."

"But…I don't even know the other team members! What if our chemistry is all wrong? I could mess up the entire match!"

"You won't."

"But, but…"

"You have cold feet?" She sighed, mockingly. "I thought you wanted to prove yourself."

"C'mon, Tai. This would be such a great opportunity!" Sora said, patting him on the shoulder.

"I agree." Izzy commented. "You need to experience the true competitive nature of such a sport before you can truly expect to excel in it."

"And there's no time like the present." Joe pitched in.

"Your friends are right, Yagami." The coach grinned. "You've gotta experience it sometime, so you might as well do it when I tell you to."

"But I don't have any equipment…"

"Then you can have one of the spare kits. I reserved one for you yesterday."

"Oh…"

"So that's a yes?"

"Yeah…yeah, I guess that's a yes."

"Then meet in the gym at lunch." She hopped up and down. "You can practice a couple of drills with the team before we have to get started. It'll give you a quick chance to get to know them."

"Sure…" Tai said, ambivalence bubbling in his chest. "…can't wait."

* * *

Yamato stepped out of the shower, squirming slightly at the droplets of water that were running down his sensitive body, and began drying his hair with a towel. It had taken a lot of effort, and a lot of energy, to pull himself into that shower as Tai had asked him.

He had heard, once, that people found it hard to keep their hygiene standards up when they were depressed.

Was that why he didn't care about how he looked anymore?

Was _he_ depressed?

Was that why he didn't like to get out of bed, and see the world? Why he found it hard to talk? Why, sometimes, it felt like his chest was being crushed from the inside out? Why he wanted to see that final light at the end of the tunnel, some days, and run to it with open, bloody arms? Did it all come to down to that one, simple word?

Depression?

"Hmph..." He shook the thought from his head and dried the rest of his body off with the towel. It was cold, today. Bitterly cold. Although, admittedly, he was sure that he wasn't helping matters by standing in the bathroom fully naked, so he walked back to Tai's room to get dressed.

Once again, however, he was forced to notice that he didn't actually have any of his own clothes to wear. Due to recent events, he had never had a chance to go back home and collect his belongings. He supposed, though, that Tai wouldn't mind him picking a few things from his wardrobe.

He pulled out some star patterned boxers, some soft sweatpants, with a soccer team's name scribed along the side, and a tight, blue hoody with a few holes in the side, and put them on. He couldn't help but think that he looked like a total mess.

He was considering changing into something else, instead, when something caught his eye from underneath the bed. He got on his knees, and picked it up.

It was a straw.

At the feel of it a sudden, vivid memory came to mind, and continued to loop in front of his eyes. Again, and again. And it made him feel warm inside.

"…Tai…" He smiled, with tears forming in his eyes.

_Tai removed the straw from his mouth and took a running start._

_"YAAAAA-"_

_Yamato groggily raised his head at the noise, but he didn't have enough time to react defensively towards the currently airborne Tai._

_"-MAAAA!"_

_Tai landed, full force, on top of the bewildered blonde, who could only scream out muffled abuse in return. Tai closed in on Yamato's ear. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I brought you a milkshake."_

"…idiot." Yamato laughed, rubbing his nose dry. He pounded at his head lightly as a realisation began to come to light. "Geez…what the hell am I doing to us, Tai?"

He got back to his feet, straw in hand. "You're always in my head. And damn it, it takes me this long to realise that I actually like it?"

The blonde ran a hand through his damp hair, and sighed. "People make out that you're stupid sometimes, Tai; but that word is better suited to me, not you."

"I said we jumped at each other too fast, and maybe I was right. Maybe. But damn it, if we like it so much, then why does that have to be a problem?" He shouted out to no-one, almost angrily. "I said I…no, I sang that I'd stay with you, dammit! So why am I so far away?"

He crawled onto Tai's bed and buried his head underneath a pillow in an attempt to muffle the sound of his frustrated howling. He hoped for a lot of things. His father's survival. His parent's acceptance. His brother's happiness. The ability to be the friend that his friends deserved him to be. But most of all, right now, he hoped for someone who could make him feel better when those other things couldn't happen. Tai was that someone.

But he couldn't just go and tell Tai that, of course. Even inside his head, he thought it sounded kind of stupid. Besides, after receiving a whole day of what was practically the cold shoulder, Tai might not want to start a real relationship with him anymore.

Yamato needed to do something. To come up with some great idea that could show Tai just how much he really did care; some great idea that could tell Tai that things had been hard, and things may still be hard for a while, but that hardship couldn't get in the way of them anymore.

It was at times like this when Yamato was glad that he was so damn creative.

* * *

"Ok, I'm freaking out. I don't like it. Not one bit."

"Oh, Tai…" Sora sighed, embracing the panicked boy in a gentle hug. "…you're gonna be fine. Really, you are."

"But I've not played in a team in so long! What if I mess up?" He whined.

"You won't, Tai."

"But I might! I can't do this, Sora. I…I need help!"

"Tai…" Sora frowned. "It's not like you to be so unconfident. Get your head on straight. You can do this." At that, the sound of a bell went off in the distance.

"…Sora?"

"…I've gotta go now, ok?" She sighed. "Listen, you're gonna be just fine."

"Ok…" Tai mumbled.

"Good. You're gonna be fine, Tai. Trust me."

"You gonna wait around for me after school so I can tell you how it went?"

"Sorry, Tai." She said. "I've gotta be home early today. We're going grocery shopping…" Sora gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off to her afternoon registration, leaving him standing outside the gym on his own.

"You coming in, Yagami?" The coach said, opening the door behind him. "You don't have very long to get yourself sorted out, you know."

"Yeah. Yeah…"

Tai walked into the gym, nervously, and found a large group of students running around inside. They were all kited up. He was not. "Er…should I go get changed, coach?"

"Yes, but hurry Yagami. You have two and a half minutes." She smiled. Tai sprinted off in the direction of the changing rooms, and pulled off his shirt immediately when he found a spare soccer kit with his name on it.

"So what's the deal, Tai?" Someone shouted out from behind the brunette all of a sudden, with a high, cheery voice.

"Who's that?" Tai froze, halfway through pulling his bottoms down. "Takashi?"

"Yeah, it's me!" The band member from yesterday smiled, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet. "I've been sent here with a mission, but I'm getting distracted by your hot bod."

"What?" Tai asked, confused.

"My mission!" Takeshi shouted, excitedly, as Tai hurriedly put on some soccer shorts. "I'm supposed to find out something. What's the word on your friend Yamato? Does he wanna join us?"

"That's why you're here?"

"Why else would I be hanging about a male changing room when I don't do sport?" He laughed.

Tai could only imagine.

"So what's the answer?" Takashi grinned.

"He said he'd love to, but he's not in school today. He'll come find you when he is."

"Really? That's great! It's been so, so long since we've had anyone to sing with us…" He sighed, contentedly. "Thank you Tai!"

"It's no problem." Tai replied, pulling a white t-shirt over his head.

"…so what's up with you? You seemed a lot cheerier last time we met." Takashi smiled. His pupils were much larger than seemed normal. Tai couldn't help but wonder if the boy had been given too much caffeine, or sugar, or something.

"I'm a bit nervous about this soccer match I've gotta take part in…"

"Oh, that old chestnut?" He replied, bobbing on his feet again. "Well, I'm gonna be watching it so I'll be cheering you on. Will that help?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in lessons this afternoon, or anything?" Tai asked, curiously. He stuck his feet comfortably into a pair of large, white socks.

"Well, I'm supposed to have maths, but my teacher saw me at lunch and thought I was too over excited to join her lesson today so she gave me a note that said I could come sit in the stands here and watch you guys but…"

"Ok, ok." Tai interrupted, smiling. He placed a pair of sports shoes on his feet. "I get it."

"I'll cheer you on!" He jumped at Tai, who had finally finished getting changed, and gave him a hug. "Good luck!"

"Right…" Tai said, tentatively hugging the boy back. "…thanks. Cheer extra loud for me."

"No problem. No one can cheer as loud as I can." He assured, squeezing Tai even tighter. Tai could feel Takeshi trembling.

"Really, dude; are you on a caffeine rush right now?"

"Yagami!" The coach's voice boomed out from the gym all of a sudden, breaking his train of thought.

"Agh, I gotta go Takeshi. Sorry." Tai jumped, sprinting back out of the changing rooms. "I'll see ya out there!"

"Bye byes!" He waved. "Don't forget to keep your cool!"

Tai hurriedly made his way back into the gym, and found that the herd of school students, who had previously been running around, were now split off into smaller groups, and they were performing team based exercises. It occurred to Tai, then, that were a lot more students here than seemed appropriate. There was only supposed to be one soccer team here, he thought, but there was double that amount – at the very least.

"What took you so long?" The coach asked, as Tai finally made his way back to her side.

"Sorry, I got, er…" Tai began, thinking that it might be best to keep Takashi's presence in the changing rooms unknown. "…distracted."

"Let's hope that the same thing doesn't happen on the field."

"Um hum." Tai nodded, looking around. "Coach, why are there so many people here?"

"I was wondering if you'd ask that."

"Oh…" Tai said, confused. "…am I supposed to come up with the answer?"

"That's up to you, Yagami."

He thought for a moment. "They're not all on the team, are they?"

"You're more perceptive than you look."

"But the only other reason they would be here…"

"Keep going."

"…is that they _want_ to be on the team. Right?"

"Right." She nodded. "Yagami, I haven't been totally honest with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Today is try-outs." She conceded. "I'm splitting everyone into two teams, and you're all going to have a match. I'm going to keep my eye on everyone and rate performance. The most highly rated will end up on the team."

"But, I thought…"

"Yes?" She asked, looking at him.

"Nothing." Tai mumbled, looking down at his shoes. He thought for sure that, after what she had said to him yesterday, he had already been assured a place on her team. Clearly, though, he had been wrong.

"Look at everyone." The coach continued, apparently oblivious to his tender feelings. "Your team captain for this match has a red band sewn into the left sleeve of his shirt. Do you see him?"

Tai looked around for a moment, before answering with a quiet "no".

"Take your time." She said, patiently.

Tai nodded. He took the time to look around even more closely at everyone in the gym. He eventually found a boy with a blue banner on his arm, in the distance, who he assumed must be the opposing team's captain, but apart from that he was certain that he could only see totally white shirts glaring back at him. There wasn't a glimpse of red to be found in the sea of over excited wannabe athletes.

He sighed, and lifted his left arm to scratch his head. And then he froze in that position. Residing there, sewn around his left sleeve, was a thin, red banner.

"Don't think that I don't trust you, Yagami. Or that I don't believe in your abilities." She stated, evenly. "This is just a formality. You're gonna be on my team no matter what happens today."

"But…I don't..."

"You don't what?" She asked.

"I don't…I mean, I can't…"

"You can't lead a team?" She asked. Tai didn't answer, and instead looked back down at his feet. She continued. "Yagami. I need you to take some time to yourself, here, and find the born leader inside of you, instead of just looking to everybody else for guidance. You need to have confidence in yourself, not just in other people."

"But what if…?"

"Stop asking questions." She interrupted. "I can see it in your eyes. You're born to lead, and you're destined to be great."

He nodded, nervously. He wasn't entirely sure how to reply to that.

"I wish I could give you the time to warm up with everyone, but with the amount of time you spent getting changed, and with our little conversation here…well, we've got to get moving."

"Ok." Tai nodded, feeling slightly ambivalent about himself.

"Jog out onto the pitch and do some stretches." She ordered, simply.

Tai did as he was told, and upon opening the door that led to the soccer pitch he heard the sound of about twenty other students following him outside. He smiled, slightly.

When he reached the soccer pitch, with the small crowd following behind him, he spotted Takashi sitting down at one of the bleachers. From where Tai stood, Takashi appeared to be bobbing up and down. Tai laughed at the sight, and began stretching his legs out.

"Akihiro, stand over there please." The coach ordered. As he stretched, Tai tilted his head in curiosity towards the boy who had moved under the order. He was tall, and gangling; and he wore a blue banner around his left arm.

It was the boy who had been bullying Izzy yesterday.

Tai scowled at the realisation. Akihiro, Tai's brand new rival, smirked back.

"When I call your name out I will point you in the direction of your team captain, and you will go and stand with them." She continued to the group. One, by one, she sent different students to their teams.

Those who were trying out, Tai noted, ranged from tall to small; from deeply pale to heavily tanned; from skinny and frail looking, to plump and sturdy. They all looked very different from each other; yet the majority of them shared the same exact facial expression. They were apprehensive.

"Hey, keep your chin up dude." Tai whispered to one particularly small boy who had moved to stand next to him at the coach's order. "You're gonna be fine."

"R-right…" The boy trembled.

"You got a captain's speech for us before the match starts?" Another teammate asked, smiling. "Y'know, to bolster confidence, or something?"

"Sure, I guess…" Tai answered, looking down at his feet. He quickly swallowed his anxiety, and looked back up at everyone with a wide grin. "You're on my team. And my team never loses." He said with a cheerful, obnoxious tone. Some of the team members laughed. "So have fun, and show off your stuff a bit. And most importantly, don't worry! We're gonna stomp em into the ground so hard that the coach won't be able to take her eyes off of us!"

"Pretty confident speech for a shrimp." Akihiro said, stepping up in front of Tai. "Yagami, is it?"

"What's it to you?"

"I just wanted to say hi before I crush you today." He stated, smiling.

"Good luck." Tai replied, stepping up to Akihiro so that they were nose to nose.

"I'm going to get you back for yesterday, Yagami." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm gonna show everybody how pathetic you are."

"Back to your side, Akihiro!" The coach said, abruptly. The older boy waited a moment, before turning his back and striding off.

"Geez…what an ass-wipe." Takashi said from beside Tai, making the brunette jump noticeably.

"Takashi, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be on the bleachers!"

"Thought I'd say hi." He shrugged.

"You're gonna get in trouble…"

"HI!" Takashi exclaimed, smiling widely. His pupils were still fairly dilated.

"Hi, Takashi…"

"You're not getting all nervous again, are you?" He asked, patting Tai on the shoulder. "C'mon, don't listen to that guy. And don't let him get you all worked up."

"But it's so hard not to get worked up by that creep! He's just so damn…"

"Geez…Momentai, Tai!" Takashi interrupted, smirking. "Take it easy."

"Right…" Tai exhaled. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Let's get this show on the road, ok?" He shouted out to the team, who all cheered in response. "I'll see you after the match, Takashi."

"Go kick some butt!"

"Thanks!" Tai shouted, as he moved to the centre of the pitch with the rest of his team. "Right, err…what positions do you all play?" At that, the rabble started shouting out different positions in a wave of over-excited uproar. "Woah, woah woah!"

"…what?" Everyone else stated, together.

"So you all know where you're going?"

"Sure we do." One boy said. "We were assigned to our best posts by the coach before we started. Weren't you?"

"No. I guess she left it up to me to decide where I should go…" Tai laughed, scratching his head. "Guess I'll play as a striker, then."

"Red team, are you ready for kick off?" The coach shouted out, abruptly. Tai was going to have to get used to jumping out in fear every soccer session.

"Yeah, er…yes coach!" Tai shouted, waving his team to their positions. "We're ready when you are!"

And so, at that, their ninety minute long soccer match began. The coach spent the majority of that time running up and down the side of the pitch in her quest to follow the ball wherever it went; and, as she ran, she obsessively scrawled things down on her clipboard. At first, this behaviour made Tai the slightest bit anxious, but he soon found that he could handle the pressure fine. He'd performed in front of a panel of judges before, after all; he could certainly handle this without breaking any extra sweat.

Most of his attention, therefore, was spent solely on the match at hand – except, of course, for that single instance where he had spotted Takeshi with his shirt wrapped around his head, drinking from what looked to be a large flask – probably filled with coffee. Not wanting to know where the hell he had got it from, considering that the boy didn't have it with him earlier, and hadn't left his seat to fetch it, Tai vowed not to look back again.

Tai's newly appointed soccer rival, Akihiro, spent the majority of his time singling out Tai to the best of his ability. He pushed him over countless times, criticised his team leading skills whenever they came within earshot of each other, and complained twice about Tai's 'abusive physical contact' which, luckily, the coach knew very well didn't exist.

Akihiro's skills as a striker, however, couldn't be denied. On certain occasions he could rival Tai's own skill, in fact. He scored almost as many times as Tai did, and he possessed the ball more often than the bushy haired brunette; though, unlike Tai, Akihiro didn't ensure that his team, as a whole, possessed the ball as often as Tai's did.

By the time the last three minutes of the match had come around, Tai had scored five goals, and the other striker on his team had scored two, giving the red team seven goals overall. Akihiro, however, had scored three goals, and the other two strikers on his team had scored two goals each. As such, the blue team also had seven goals.

"Tai, we've gotta win this now." A member of the red team, Michi, whined. "Otherwise we're gonna run out of time.

"I know, I know…" Tai thought, looking from side to side in the hopes than some brilliant scheme would leap up before him. It didn't.

"We've been so much better this half, captain." The other striker, Katsu, offered. "We've caught them up, and had them on the ropes since. We did that without any real plan. Maybe we don't need one now, either. We should just go for it and see what happens."

"You think so?" Michi asked, warily. "I'm not so sure…"

"Wait, guys…" Tai said, slowly. "…I think I just got an idea…"

At that, Tai began whispering hurriedly into the ear of the other striker, who was nodding hectically in response. A smile loomed upon both of their lips.

"Y'know, that could work…"

"To your positions, reds! Time out is over!"

The final run began at the coach's word, and the reds started in possession of the ball; but something was different from the go. And Akihiro noticed it.

"Why isn't Yagami in his normal position?" The boy wondered, head tilted to the side. "He's…I think he's switched position with the other striker."

"What?"

"He switched places. Normally he takes the killer shot, doesn't he? And the other one is their insurance. But he's…he's swapped places! He's not heading into the striking zone; and he's not gonna get near the ball from where he is right now..."

"So what do we do about it?"

"…play it out." He said. "Watch to see if he changes direction, or lane. I'll mark him; you two focus on Katsu. Take the ball forward if you can. If not, give it to the centre men and they'll take it up in our place."

"A switch?"

"They'll never anticipate it. Let's go."

Tai lingered about on the side lines, whilst Katsu made his way up the centre of the pitch, straight towards the pair of opposing strikers. A thought crossed Katsu's mind at the sight of them – 'these two aren't supposed to be marking me, they're supposed to be moving forward…' – but he tried to ignore it. A plan was in action, after all; and he couldn't falter.

The oncoming pair drew nearer and nearer; and then so near that a lengthy slide tackle would have been able to cover the distance between them and knock Katsu down. But then the ball was abruptly booted to his right, sending it in a wide arc across the pitch. The ball landed – not next to Tai – but next to Michi, one of the midfielders, who had switched his position and been running along the side lines without being noticed.

"They've got a third striker!" Akihiro shouted. The blue's midfielders attempted to reach the new appearance to block his advance, but they were too far away to get near him before he had crossed into the final third of the pitch.

When they finally managed to reach him, he passed the ball back to Katsu, who continued to take it forward. He got past one of the blue's defenders, and then another.

Tai, knowing full well that he was being followed by Akihiro, casually jogged along around the centre of the pitch. Akihiro stuck beside him by a few inches.

"Did you think that your plan was going to leave us astounded, or something, Yagami?" Akihiro laughed, with a tone that gave away his slight lack of confidence. "You're even stupider than I thought."

At that, Tai sprinted forward – much faster than anyone, least of all Akihiro, could have anticipated. Tai had never run so fast in his life. He scanned around him for an open space in the box as he rocketed. Any space at all that could create a clear path for a pass from Michi, or Katsu. Any space at all that would give him a second to get his angle, and timing, right. And then he saw it. Straight ahead of him. An area of space inside the box surrounding the blue team's goal. He made for it.

Katsu, meanwhile, had been blocked by the final defender, and had passed the ball back to Michi. Michi, in turn, had found himself blocked by another defender who had managed to make his way back in time to block the assault. Michi passed it back to Katsu again in an overhead arc. Katsu jumped up, and headed the ball with all his strength, in the direction that Tai was now standing.

Akihiro, already having caught up to Tai again, made his descent into a sliding tackle. He aimed his foot directly at Tai's ankle.

The ball, now, was only a few inches from Tai's head.

Akihiro, without a slight of hesitation, was only inches away from smashing into Tai's unprotected foot.

Tai, with no better idea in mind, twisted himself so that his back was facing the soccer net, jumped up into the air and performed a backflip.

Akihiro slid directly underneath him, with a slow 'O' shape forming where his mouth should have been.

Tai's feet made contact with the ball, and the ball shot forward at the goal with amazing power.

The goal keeper tried to reach it, but the angle was too sharp, and the speed of was too great, for him to have a chance.

The ball hit the back of the net.

Tai would have landed successfully on his feet, normally, given his extensive practice in gymnastics, and natural agility. However, with Akihiro still lying beneath him, the brunette landed in a heap on top of his arch rival. Neither of them seemed bothered, at first, as they were both trying to take in the sight of a soccer ball sitting inside the blue team's goal. Slowly, though, their eyes met. A second went by in silence, before "you were saying?"

Feeling pleased with his eventual comeback, and facing no retort from his rival, Tai got back to his feet as quickly as he could and ran over to his team mates to cheer in celebration. The coach said that, technically, there was still about half a minute of the match left to go, but that nothing would get done in that time considering that the soccer pitch took about a minute to traverse from one end to the other.

The red team, naturally, didn't complain. The blue team would have liked to, but they were all too tired to care very much. Akihiro, too. Besides, as both teams knew, they were passing into 'after school' time, and they all wanted to get themselves home soon.

The coach gave everyone their own complimentary review before they left, choosing to leave out their negative points from fear of annoying a tired, already rowdy group of kids. She gave special mention to the gymnast/soccer player hybrid, Taichi Yagami, for the careful control of his team, and for his display of a very rare skill – being able to keep his head whilst other players were trying to get under his nails. Tai blushed at that one. So did Akihiro.

"Yagami." The coach said to Tai as she walked into the changing room ten minutes later. He was the only student left in there.

"Yeah, coach?"

"The boy on the bleachers – Takashi – he was cheering you on for most of the match. You know him?"

"Yeah, I know him." Tai said.

"He passed out five minutes from the end." She said. "I guess he missed your big moment."

"He passed out?"

"I don't know the details." She said with a frown. "But, from what little I've heard, it's very possible that he got over excited."

"I wouldn't put it past him." Tai smirked.

"Right." She replied. They stood in silence for a few moments, before she continued. "I wanted to congratulate you, by the way."

"On what?"

"You made the team." She smiled. "And despite the heavy competition out there today, you proved your worth. You're the best soccer player I've seen in a long, long time."

"Thank you, Mam."

"No, Tai. Thank you." She smiled. "Now get yourself home. I've gotta lock this place up."

* * *

"Sora?" Yamato asked as he reached the Yagami gate. Sora looked slightly flustered, and was hopping up and down impatiently. Her father was waiting in the car behind her.

"Hey Matt! I've gotta go grocery shopping. I just thought I'd tell you that Tai was surprised with an afternoon soccer match today, and that he's probably just finishing." She smiled. "You should go meet him and walk him home."

"Wait…is there no one else there with him?"

"Well, I told him in advance that I had to get home early. I guess Izzy could be there, but…but Izzy doesn't like to break his routine, does he? So…oh, you're right. Tai could be all on his own..."

"Dammit…"

"I'm sorry, Matt! It didn't occurred to me that there would be no-one there for him!" She said, apologetically. "Could Mr Horn…?"

"No, he said he'll be in a meeting for a while after school." Yamato said, worriedly.

"Well, you get out here and go get him! Ok?"

"Right." Yamato said, unlocking the gate and stepping out. He closed it behind him.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Matt." She said, reassuringly. "We're just getting jumpy over nothing."

Yamato didn't reply. He set off, walking, towards the school, leaving Sora to stand alone in his wake. His stony expression didn't express it, but Yamato was scared. He was scared because a horrible feeling was currently bubbling up inside of his chest, and contrary to what Sora was suggesting, this feeling was telling him that they weren't just 'getting jumpy over nothing'.

He quickened his pace. The light in the distance was beginning to blot out, only to be replaced by the darkness. A storm was approaching.

* * *

Tai exited the school grounds without a care in the world.

Any other day that week, he thought, he probably would have missed Sora's company, and Izzy's company; and, almost certainly, he would have missed Yamato's company. But, for this single moment in time, he was perfectly at ease on his own.

After all, it had been a very good day.

With his hair blowing in the sudden, sturdy gale, Tai continued down the home-bound route that he had already followed so many times during his short life in Odaiba. He was smiling brightly, and he was whistling tunelessly to himself. There was nobody else in sight.

"I wonder if Yama feels any better…" Tai pondered to himself as he went. "…it's only really been a day, or so, and I'm already running out of ideas with what to do with the guy."

He laughed, despite himself. "Maybe if I tell him that one of his future band members is a caffeine junkie who collapsed from excitement today, he'll smile for me..."

At that thought, a droplet of water fell onto the tanned boy's nose, and carefully made its way towards his lips.

"Huh?" He said to himself, looking up slowly.

A second drop landed on his face, and then another; each one trailing downwards to linger somewhere else, caressingly. He grinned. The heavens were opening up above him.

And it was nice.

Overwhelmed by a sudden, inexplicable calm, Tai halted in his tracks and stretched his arms out to his sides. Within seconds, he was enveloped by the spray of heavy, rushing water. It felt, he thought, like it was washing away all of the bad things that he had been trying so hard to forget recently. Like it was cleaning away all of the sad things, and softening all of the hard things. And it made him feel so much lighter.

The moment that Tai spent there went on forever, it seemed. Yet, through that surrounding cascade of water, and through that frozen veil of time that came with it, only a few seconds passed by.

That short amount of time, though, had been enough to produce a strangely familiar, bloodcurdling sound, and when it came it crashed down violently upon Tai's eardrums. He gasped, almost fearfully.

"TAIII!" Yamato yelled, sprinting up the street in Tai's direction; a blonde blur in a torrential downpour. "TAIII!"

"Yama?"

"RUN TAI, RUN!"

"What do you…?"

"Tai." A new voice spoke from behind the brunette, coarsely. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

The hairs on Tai's neck stood on end, and any blood left in his face rushed away. He knew that voice, and he knew it all too well. He turned around.

"Don't make this hard, son." Mr Yagami said, reaching out to grab Tai by the shoulder. Tai jumped back a step.

"Don't…don't touch me."

"Get away from him!" Yamato shouted, grabbing Tai by the arm and pulling him backwards onto the road. Mr Yagami took a few tentative steps forward, arm still outstretched, but abruptly stopped at the curb. His eyes scanned over the blonde boy, carefully. A look of fear passed over the man's face.

"Yamato." Tai said, pulling himself from the blonde's grasp. "You shouldn't be here! I can't let him hurt you again!"

"And I can't let him hurt _you_ again!"

"Why are you wearing that?" Mr Yagami said, fearfully.

"…what?" Yamato replied, completely taken aback.

"What are…who are you, boy?" The man tried, irritably running a hand through his long, greasy hair. "I know that face! Why…what's your damn name?"

"Yama, just get out of here!" Tai pleaded.

"Not without you!" The blonde shouted back at him, annoyed.

Before they could do anything else, Mr Yagami had moved towards them with unreasonable speed. Tai and Yamato were grabbed by the scruffs of their clothes in a split second action, and they were lifted up into the air. Tai punched his father in the face as hard as he could, but left no mark. He tried to hit the man a second time, aiming more carefully this time, but before he could do so Mr Yagami sent the pair soaring through the air with a terrible scream. Tai landed in a heap upon the pavement. Yamato landed a few inches beside him.

At that same second a crash sounded from the road, and then a subsequent smash sounded from one of the buildings further up. Silence ensued.

"D…Dad?" Tai said, confused. He got to his feet. He could feel a sharp, stabbing pain in his ankle, but he ignored it as best as he could. "What…what just happened?"

He limped onto the road and headed towards the figure that lay there. He could hear Yamato getting up behind him.

"Tai…" Yamato whined, following the brunette. "That's my…that's my…"

"Yama! My Dad, he's…Yama, please help me!" Tai pleaded, looking back at the rambling blonde. Yamato had fallen back to his knees, and was staring into the distance at something, shaking his head madly. Tai hesitantly followed his gaze. Sticking out of the ground floor of a tall building was a car. It was on fire.

"Tai…I think, I…" Yamato said, getting back to his feet. "…I've gotta help!"

At that, Yamato sprinted into the distance. Tai would have loved to help the blonde, but he had his own problems to deal with. He turned back to his father. "Dad?"

"You never…" The man tried, looking up at the clouds from where he was laying. "…you never did have any road sense, Tai."

"…Dad." Tai whined, trying to ignore the huge volume of blood that was pooling out from underneath his father.

"We tried teaching you to look both ways before you crossed the street, your mother and I." He continued, with an odd smile. "We tried so hard."

"Don't do this, Dad!"

"You care about that boy over there?" Mr Yagami said, changing the topic.

"…don't do this. Not now." Tai said, taking off his school bag to prop it underneath his father's head. "I don't wanna hear you talk."

"Tell me." He continued, ignoring Tai's protests. "What's his name?"

"He's Yama…" Tai mumbled, conceding. "Yamato Ishida."

"Ishida…" Mr Yagami laughed, quietly. "…somehow, I think I already knew that."

"I hate you, Dad." Tai whined, wiping his eyes.

"I know." Mr Yagami said, looking at Tai in the eyes. "You saw what he was wearing?"

"I dunno, geez..."

"Get rid of it." He wept, trying to raise a finger to his eyes.

"What, the hoody?"

"It's a reminder of the past that you don't need, Tai."

"I don't have a phone with me." Tai shook his head, ignoring what his father was telling him. "I can't call an ambulance for you."

"It wouldn't make a difference if you did." He moaned. "That driver was going so…so fast. I'm broken, Tai."

"So what do I do, Dad?" Tai asked, all but shouting at the man on the floor.

"Ishida, where did he go?" Mr Yagami asked, changing topic again.

"To the car. He wanted to help."

"I wish I could see him."

"What?"

"Both of you, together, really. It'd remind me of old times."

"I don't get what you mean, Dad!"

"He's a good boy, right?" Mr Yagami continued. "You'll take care of him?"

"I don't understand!"

"I've got something for you. I wanted to give you it, earlier, but…" Mr Yagami said, trying to move his arm. A siren sounded from somewhere in the distance.

"I'll get it." Tai said, wiping his eyes and sticking a hand inside his father's jacket. "It sounds like someone has called an ambulance for you, Dad."

"I told you, it won't make a difference Tai." He sighed. "Just...just make sure you take everything you get your hands on."

Tai searched around every pocket, even a large one on the inside, and only came across two things. His father's wallet and Tai's old, orange security blanket.

"What is all this?"

"Michael…" Mr Yagami murmured, with half lidded eyes. "Tell him I'm sorry for breaking his door. I had to get out and find you, but it was locked."

"Stop talking! You need to save your strength, damn it!"

"And tell Ishida I'm sorry, too. Things should have gone better between us."

"You'll tell him yourself!" Tai shouted. Tears were streaming down his face.

"And tell Tai that I was scared."

"Dad, I'm right here with you."

"He's a lot like me, you know." The man continued, almost conversationally. "He's only small, but already everything he does reminds me of myself. It's amazing."

"Dad…"

"I love him so much."

"Please, Dad…"

"Tell him for me."

"I…I will." Tai choked, grabbing his father in an embrace.

"Thank you." Mr Yagami muttered. The sound of sirens grew louder, and the sound of Tai's crying grew with it. The rain kept on falling.

* * *

Susamu didn't believe that one's life would flash before their eyes when they died. It just seemed silly. Didn't it? Still, here he was, taking a trip down memory lane without ever budging an inch from his comfy spot in the middle of the road where he was currently dying.

Dying, yes.

Now _that_, he felt, was an especially irritating affair; and it had come at an especially awkward time. He'd planned a big speech for his Tai, and everything. And now his death had got in the way of it.

No matter.

He was, for the most part, certain that he could trust Michael to tell Tai everything that he needed to know. Hell, Michael probably knew the story better than anyone else did, given his unusual position.

"Oh." Susamu thought. "Those memories are coming back again."

It was dark, here. Dark, but oh so light. He was in the air. Kind of. Yes, Susamu thought. He remembered this bit. He was in the air, and he was about to land his first ever perfect aerial half twist front flip. And as he thought it, he did so. He landed it perfectly. A teacher in the corner – a big man – was slowly applauding the feat.

"Do it again."

And so he did. Only, Susamu thought, this memory wasn't quite right anymore. He was sure that he did, in fact, land it the second time as well. Only, now that he looked upon it, he was on the floor. And the place was a lot darker. And he was in pain. Did he fall?

"You're going to learn, boy."

"Learn what?" Susamu wondered. He didn't understand this memory, yet, and so he was happy to find that he was soon flashing away from it, and onto a new one.

This memory was nicer. He was standing with his favourite smarmy British kid, Michael, and with his best friend, Yuuko. Those two were talking to each other a lot about nothing important. "Sparks are flying…" Susamu had thought at the time. He wondered why the pair didn't end up in love with each other. Confused, Susamu moved on.

Now he was with another boy. His favourite boy. This boy was taller than he was, but thinner and paler, too. What was his name again?

Oh. Never mind.

He was already looking upon another memory, now. Here, Susamu was watching Michael draw him. But there was something else about this memory. Wasn't there? He tried to turn his head to his side to see if there was anyone else there.

Too late. He was back to his favourite boy again. What was his name, though? Hiroaki? Was that it? Yes. Yes, it was. Hiro. That's what he called him. He was sure of it.

Then there was a flash of ink on skin, and then a flash of his favourite boy's face again. Man, Hiro talked a lot. Nearly as much as Michael, even.

"Geez…" Susamu thought. "Memories are messy."

Oh, no.

He was cold all of a sudden. Really, really cold. But then someone draped an orange blanket over his shoulders and he was warm again. The blanket was in great condition, and it smelt like love. How strange. How thoughtful.

Then he was back in the gym. And it was dark, and he was in pain. And he wasn't alone.

"You're going to learn, boy."

"Please, no…" A voice said from behind Susamu. Hands gently grasped him by the shoulders. "…please, we don't want this. No, no more. We're better. We're good. Please…"

"No, you're all going to learn." The man said. "I told you, fairy boy."

"But…"

"Shut the fuck up!" And with that, the man disappeared from Susamu's sight and the sound of knuckle on skin could be heard. Again, and again. And again.

"Susy…!" Someone pleaded, crying. Was that Hiro, as well?

"I told you all. You're going to learn. You're going to learn to stop being so damn wrong, and disgusting." The man shouted. "You fags don't know what pain is yet. But you're gonna. You're gonna learn. All of you."

And then Susamu was in the light again, but the light hurt. It hurt bad. And in front of him was Hiroaki, and another girl his age. Blonde hair, pale skin. She had been beaten to a pulp. So had Hiroaki.

"So had you." Susamu thought to himself, remembering a choice selection of his own beatings all of a sudden. "Repressed memories couldn't hide the scars, could they?" The pain still hurt him in this memory. But it seemed to reside, for the most part, deep within in his chest, as opposed to residing around his bruises and scars. How odd.

He looked back at the couple in front of him with curiosity.

Now he was sad. Very sad. Once again he was alone with his favourite boy, Hiro. And Hiro was crying. And so was Susamu. And they had made a pact to forget one and other, and everything that had happened. To get married to the best girls that they could find, and to run away. One last kiss from each other. And one last goodbye.

Susamu had his first taste of alcohol that day.

The memories faded for a while, at that point, and Susamu thought that the montage of his life was already over. He was feeling sad again. But then it cut back in, and he was over the moon. His son had been born. His little boy, Tai. Tai was beautiful, and he was wrapped in an orange blanket. It was for good luck, and to keep him safe, and to let him know that he was loved. Susamu declared that he would never drink a drop of alcohol again after seeing such a beautiful sight.

But he already knew, looking back, that old habits would die hard.

Tai was growing up. "He's a lot like me, you know." Susamu said with pride, over the phone to his estranged friend, Michael. "He's only small, but already everything he does reminds me of myself. It's amazing."

"Is that so?" Michael said, surprised. "And you love him?"

"I love him so much."

"That's good, Susy. If I ever meet him…"

"Tell him for me."

"I will. I'll tell him just how much he's loved by his father, in case his father ever forgets to tell the boy himself."

"Thank you."

Suddenly, the sun was shining too brightly. It was midday. The girls were out shopping, and Tai was in the garden in performing handstands. Handstands that could have rivalled Susamu's, back in the day. Everything about the boy reminded Susamu of himself. And it was scary. It brought back his demons. It brought back his thirst for alcohol. It brought back the pain, the anger, the hate. It brought back his gym teacher, and his Hiro, and their pact.

"You're such a big gay boy!" Susamu sneered. "You look like a fairy, Tai."

He punched Tai in the arm, playfully, but Tai fell over. And Susamu didn't like that. Not one bit. It was a sign of weakness, after all. Tai was weak. "Fight back!"

"No…"

"Fight back!" He repeated. "Unless you're gay?"

"So what if I am?"

Oh no. We couldn't be having that, could we? Another gay in the house? Oh, no. Having a gay son would be too hard to hide. And if Susamu couldn't hide it, then Susamu would have to beat it out of the boy. He'd have to teach the boy a lesson that he'd never forget, just like he had been taught all that time ago. Susamu struck Tai down, ripping holes in that thin, blue hoody that he was wearing.

"How odd that he kept that piece of clothing all this time..." Susamu thought. "Didn't it remind of hard times?" Tai must have spent every minute of his time fighting his demons. He was so strong, and brave. And Susamu was so proud.

He really wanted to live, just a little longer, to see how great his son could become; but he wanted to die, right now, for what he had done to him.

His memories flashed forward, again, all the way through that dry, dry time at prison. Susamu had done so much to ignore his addiction. He had taken up every hour he could to do chores. To cook, and to clean. To do anything he could. And they had let him out early for it, because he was showing signs of repenting.

And Susamu had gone home after that. He had been prepared to apologise profusely to his family, and move out, and stay in touch over a long distance - and maybe even seek out Hiroaki and see if he had turned out any better, just for the sake of closure. But his family was already gone when he got home. There was very little left at the house. Very little indeed. No Yuuko, no Tai, no Kari.

He made his way into his son's bedroom and, unsurprisingly, he found it empty. Totally empty - except for one, amazing thing. That old, orange blanket. Inside it he could just make out a shade of Tai, still wrapped up in it, safe and sound. That shade was a shade of the horrible past that Susamu could never make up for.

And old memories flashed by again. He was being covered from the cold once more, by…by Hiroaki. Yes, by Hiroaki.

"I'm giving you this, Susy. It's my old security blanket. It's…it's for good luck." That's what he had said. "It's to let you know that I'll always be with you." And then Susamu had given that blanket to Tai to let him know that he would always be there with his son. But, naturally, his son didn't want to be followed by the plague that was his father. Not anymore. So he had left it at the house when they had gone away.

That revelation hurt.

Susamu had sat on the floor, then; and he had cried. And when he stood again, he got into his vehicle and left to find a convenience store. He bought a lot of alcohol that day.

The therapists at the prison had told him that alcohol was his downfall, and that it had severely distorted his cognitions. Damage would come from every drop that he drank from then on. He didn't care anymore, though. Not anymore.

He didn't guess at the time that, in his drunken state, he would travel all the way to Odaiba to chase down his family.

Oh, well.

Susamu thought that he deserved what he had coming, now. And it didn't matter if he died right here in the middle of the road. It really didn't. He had already died, in his mind; all those years ago in that gym with Hiroaki.

And then he was looking up at the sky again. It was raining. It was raining heavily. And he felt tired. He just wanted to sleep. He wanted to sleep so, so bad. Tai was still above him, crying, and the sirens were getting very close now.

"I love you, Tai."

Susamu took hold of Tai's hand, and looked into his eyes. He saw himself, there. He saw what he could have been, and what he had failed to be. He smiled, and he turned his head to rest, and he went to sleep.

He didn't wake up.

* * *

Tai didn't notice when his father took his last, long breath. He just watched as the man lay there, peacefully, those last words drifting about in his mind. Some part of his father still loved him, and that was somehow warming in this ice cold storm.

He didn't flinch when the paramedics came speeding down the road towards him that same minute, and he didn't budge when they got out of their vehicle and tried to move him from the scene. It wasn't until Yamato returned, looking paler than ever, that Tai finally got to his feet.

"Y-Yama…" Tai cried, wiping his eyes every half second in an attempt to see out of them. Yamato took him by the shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. "Yama…"

"We're gonna be ok, Tai. We are." He said, half trying to reassure himself of that fact. "We're gonna be ok…"

The pair stood at the edge of the road as Mr Yagami was lifted onto a stretcher and rolled into the back of an ambulance. Tai wanted to go in the ambulance, too, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Yamato's side. The rain continued to pour down on them, and was soon accompanied by a crack of thunder. "Tai, we can't just stand here."

"What if they need us?"

"Then they'll come find us, come on." He took Tai by the hand. "We're going home."

"What happened with the driver?"

"I pulled her out of the car." He answered, monotonously. "Drunk at the wheel. One of the paramedics will take them away, probably."

"Oh…" Tai answered, and fell into silence.

The pair made their way back to the Yagami residence. Tai limped the whole way, still wiping his eyes dry every few seconds. Behind them, they could hear Mr Horn shouting their names. But they didn't stop. If Mr Horn wanted to talk to either of them then he, like the authorities, could come and find them. They unlocked the gate to the Yagami residence, and headed inside.

* * *

**Please, tell me what you thought. This was a hard chapter to write. I really hope that I managed to pull it off.**

**PS I apologise for the long sport commentary in there, which some of you had a problem with.**


	10. Revelations

**Here we are, everyone. Chapter Ten: Revelations. The end of my biggest fanfic to date.**

**It's been a hell of a ride.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"M-mom?" Kari asked, recovering from the mighty jolt caused by her mother's abrupt braking. The car had been forced to a stop in the middle of the road.

"Why are we parking here?" T.K. asked with a small smile, seemingly unfazed by the odd circumstances. He unhooked his seatbelt. "Your house is all the way over there."

"Mom?" Kari repeated, ignoring T.K.'s input. She climbed out of the back seat and moved into the front. "Mommy, are you ok?"

"Kari." Mrs Yagami said under her breath. "Kari. Yes, I'm ok dear. Zip up your coat."

"Ok." She smiled, contented at finally getting a response. Through the windscreen Kari could make out a roadblock ahead of them, and behind that she could see a big vehicle with flashy, red lights. There were lots of people rushing about, too, dressed in reflective coats.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." Mrs Yagami said. She opened her door and stepped out into the storm. Kari and T.K. followed suit, immediately pulling their hoods over their heads.

Mrs Yagami took Kari and T.K. by the hands and hurriedly walked them past the roadblock, and onto the slippery pavement. Kari fought hard against the urge to splash around in the ankle deep puddles at her sides as they went, thinking that her Mom probably wouldn't like it too much if she became even wetter than she already was. Adults were no fun.

"Michael?" Mrs Yagami called out all of a sudden, pulling the two children forward with her. Mr Horn was standing outside the Yagami residence with a school bag in one hand, arguing with someone. "Michael, what's happening?"

"It's bad, Yuuko." He whined, rubbing his finger and thumb over his tired eyes. "Really bad."

"There were two boys here, where have they gone?" A paramedic asked Mr Horn, noisily. Kari didn't like his tone. "We need to talk to them."

"You can wait until later to do that!" Mr Horn exclaimed, annoyed. "Clear up the damn mess here, first!"

"Michael, what's happened?" She asked, with panic clear in her tone.

"It's just procedure, sir." The paramedic continued, taking another step towards Michael. "We need to talk to them."

"I don't care about procedure!" Mr Horn retorted.

"Michael!" Mrs Yagami exclaimed, bringing the other two men to silence.

"It's…it's Susamu." Mr Horn said, glancing nervously at her.

"What about him?"

"He's been hit." He faltered, trying to calm himself. "…a car was speeding down the street, and...and the d-driver probably couldn't see a damn thing in this storm."

"…how is he?" She replied, eyes wide.

"He…dead, Yuuko."

Everything became silent at that.

Kari, unsure of what was happening, allowed her attention to drift towards the things that were happening around her. Across the street she could see Izzy, Tai's friend, standing in front of his house with a phone hanging idly from his hand. He didn't have a coat on. She wondered if he had forgotten about it in his rush to get outside.

"Kari."

And turning to look behind her, she could see a police car pulling up to the scene. She kinda hoped that they weren't all going to be interviewed again. That would take some time.

"Kari!"

"…yes, Mom?"

"C'mon, we need to go see your brother." Mrs Yagami said with a teary-eyed expression. "We need to go see Tai."

She took the two children, and Mr Horn, and hurried through the front gate, closing it forcefully behind her so that no one else would follow them in. She didn't care about the legal issues right now. Her husband was dead.

And from what she could gather, her son had watched it happen.

* * *

"Tai, maybe we should get some ice for your foot, or something?" Yamato offered, rubbing the boy tenderly along the ankle. It already looked swollen.

"Hmm." Tai replied, dully.

"C'mon. We can't just leave it like this." The blonde tried, looking up at Tai. There was so much pain in the brunette's eyes. So much pain. Yamato just wanted to take some of it away.

"I…" Tai began, hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"I…I hate him, Yama." Tai croaked. A couple of small, bitter tears dropped from his face, and landed directly onto Yamato's. "I hate him, but he shouldn't have…this shouldn't have…"

"I know, Tai. I know." Yamato said, standing up and wrapping his arms around the shivering brunette. "This shouldn't have happened."

"Tai?" Mrs Yagami's voice shouted as the front door burst open all of a sudden.

"Yamato!" Mr Horn's voice followed, worriedly. "Where are you?"

"We're in…" Yamato attempted, but choked uneasily on the lump in his throat. He took in a deep breath, squeezed Tai a little tighter, and tried again. "We're in here!"

Instantaneously, Mrs Yagami rushed into the kitchen. Yamato stepped to the side as the woman latched onto her son, rambling stream after incoherent stream of sound into his ear. She was crying over him, but she was smiling through her tears. "Probably just happy to see him alive…" Yamato thought. He had to admit: he was slightly jealous that he had no parent to invade his personal space. His father was in hospital, and his mother was…

"…guys?"

"Yamato!" Mrs Yagami exclaimed, as if she hadn't previously realised that he was there. She took him in a tight embrace, too. "I'm glad that you're safe. Thank you for looking after Tai."

"The driver who hit Mr Yagami…" Yamato said, causing everyone in the room to go quiet. Mrs Yagami took a hesitant step back. She tilted her head, slightly.

"What is it, Yamato?"

"I don't know if you've heard, but it was…" Yamato attempted, looking down at his feet. "…it was my mom."

"It was Nancy?" Mr Horn asked, confused. His eyes radiated exhaustion.

"Yeah." He replied, refusing to look at anyone. "I'm so sorry. This…this is all my fault."

Mrs Yagami stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds, her hysterical tears disappearing, before answering him with a slow, stern tone. "It is not your fault, Yamato. You weren't the one speeding down a residential street in a storm."

"But…I…"

"Where did you get this, Tai?" Mr Horn interrupted, in an attempt to change the subject. He picked up the orange blanket that was lying on the kitchen table, and waved it about. Mr Yagami's wallet fell out of it.

"My Dad told me to take it."

"Isn't that your old security blanket, Tai?" Mrs Yagami asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Tai said, opening the wallet that was now on the table. "And Michael? My Dad, he…he said sorry for breaking your door."

Mr Horn grimaced at that, and put the blanket back down against the table. He was sure that, when he got home, he would find that most of his things had been stolen if Mr Yagami really had left his front door broken. He didn't live in the best of neighbourhoods. "What do you have there?"

"My Dad's wallet. He…he said, that…" He quit talking, and emptied out the contents of the wallet onto the table. Some spare change fell out, as did an old drivers licence. But Tai still thought that he could feel something else in there. Something light.

"What did he say?"

"He…he said…" Tai whined, digging through the rest of the wallet. "…he said he had something to give me, like it was something important. But I can't find it!"

The room remained quiet, and perturbed, and Tai kept searching in frustration for something that he didn't even know was there. He tore at the wallet from every direction, trying desperately to find a sign of anything. Minutes went by in vain.

"There's…there's nothing there!" He moped, becoming teary eyed again. "Nothing!" No special message. No revelations. Nothing at all. Not a damn thing.

And then he saw a loose thread.

"Wait…" Tai muttered, wiping his puffy eyes dry.

He picked up the wallet again, and tentatively pulled at the cheap, discoloured strand that stuck out from it. He found that it unravelled, and that the more he pulled, the more a new pocket began to open up on the inside. "Someone has sewn this pocket shut!" Tai gasped. He pulled at the string until it came all the way out, eyed it for a second, and then nervously stuck his hand into the newly discovered opening.

"What's in there, Tai?" Kari asked, looking up at him.

"…paper." Tai said, tilting his head. He grasped it, and he pulled it out into the open. "It's a folded slip of paper."

"What's on it?" Yamato asked, taken in by the sudden detective-mystery atmosphere.

"I don't know…" Tai said, carefully unfolding it. It was yellowing, and it looked fragile.

"Look, there's writing on it!" T.K. exclaimed, standing on tip toes to see it. "It says, uuuh…"

"It says…" Tai started.

"…don't let the world get you down." Mr Horn interrupted, causing everybody to turn and look at him. He clearly wasn't close enough to the paper to see what was written on it. "Love, Mike."

"…what?" Mrs Yagami said, looking at the man in confusion. "What is this, Michael?"

"Tai." Mr Horn said. "Unfold the paper and look at the rest of it."

Tai did as he was told, and finished unfolding the piece of paper as carefully as possible; but he couldn't see anything. He looked up at Yamato for guidance, anxiously. Yamato, it just so happened, had a piece of advice to offer.

"Turn it over." He mouthed, silently.

Tai did as he was told, and he found that on the other side of the paper there was a drawing. A drawing done in thin, black ink, which depicted two young boys sat together in the sun, happily. They were holding hands.

"They wanted to stay happy, and together, forever." Mr Horn said, quietly. "No matter what happened. They wanted to stay happy, and together, forever. This was the only way I knew how to do that for them."

"I…I don't understand, Michael. That's Susamu, but…" Mrs Yagami said, sitting down at the table. "Who's that other boy in the picture?"

"This doesn't make any sense." Yamato pitched in.

"Not yet, it doesn't." The teacher sighed. "But it's going to make sense soon. Be patient; I'm going to tell you all a story."

"A story?" Tai asked, curiously.

"Yes, Tai. A story." Mr Horn nodded, jadedly. "A story about…about a young friend of mine."

"My Dad?" Tai whispered in question. The man looked down at Tai for a few moments, and nodded.

"Your dad was convinced, a long time ago, that he was a monster."

"He was a monster." Mrs Yagami stated.

"He wasn't always, Yuuko." He answered. She looked down at the table, ambivalently. "I wonder, do you remember the old, bulging gym teacher who showed up during our final few years of high school?"

"…the guy with the slicked hair?"

"Yes."

"Sure, I remember him." She shrugged, wiping another tear from her face with an irritated huff. "But I don't get what..."

"He, alone, is the cause of everything bad that Susamu became." He answered. "I can say the same for Yamato's parents too, whilst I'm at it."

"What?" Yamato questioned, scratching his head. "Hold up, I'm confused."

"Everything bad that your parents have done to you, Yamato, and everything bad that they have become, is because of this same gym teacher that turned Tai's father into the monster that he is. Or…" He stopped, momentarily. "…was."

"Michael, wait. Is this going to be ok for T.K. and Kari to hear?" Mrs Yagami asked, worriedly.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He replied. "But this involves both of their parents, and so they have every right to stay and listen."

"But…"

"They have to know, Yuuko."

"Fine." She conceded. "But be gentle about it…whatever it is."

"Very well. Our story…" He sighed, and put his hands into his pockets to hide the shaking. "…our story starts in the school gym, one day. It was the start of an optimistic sporting season. Susamu – your dad, Tai - had gone to re-apply for a place on the gymnastics squad, as he did at the start of every sporting season."

"I remember." Mrs Yagami nodded. "He was pretty good at most things, but that damn gym was the only place he really wanted to play around in. He signed up every time the season re-started."

"Yes. And he never had trouble placing on the team, either." Mr Horn nodded. "He was the best the school had ever seen; a born natural. He worked hard. But, as you may remember Yuuko, this year brought about a change. A new member joined the teaching staff. A large, experienced trainer, with the bright, slicked back hair that you mentioned."

"He took a large interest in Susamu's talents. The boy's try-out was a smash hit." Mr Horn smiled, almost nostalgically. "I saw it with my own eyes. Susamu landed a very complicated move during his try-out, and Haru Iwati – that was the teacher's name – applauded him, and asked him to repeat the same thing again and again. He did so perfectly."

"…and?"

"And…we'll get back to Mr Iwati's part in the story later." He sighed. "The more important thing that you need to know, right now, is that there was someone else in that room who took a sudden interest in Susy."

"…this is gonna be my Dad, isn't it?" Yamato grimaced, suddenly remembering a certain tattoo on his father's arm.

"Yes, Yamato. Your father sat beside me that day – by chance, I thought – as I watched the performance. But then he started to ask me about Susamu. He wanted to be friends, he said. He wanted to get to know him." Mr Horn laughed, bitterly. "I knew what was going on from the first word, but I kept my mouth shut anyway and introduced the pair as soon as we left the gym."

"They…and this is going to be hard to hear, Yuuko." He tried, looking fairly awkward. "They fell for each other."

"That doesn't make sense." She said. "Susamu wasn't - he didn't – why would he have been with me if he was…"

"You'll find out." Mr Horn interrupted. "As the story continues."

"Then tell your damn story."

"Fine." He frowned, trying to remember his place. "The pair became inseparable, and when they realised exactly how they felt for each other – they said it was love – well, they came to confide in me. It lasted for months, and nothing bad happened." He sighed. "But then, one day, they came to me in a terrified state. They were afraid."

"Why were they afraid if they were in love?" Kari exclaimed, confused. "I thought it was a good thing?"

"Can two boys be in love?" T.K. asked, tilting his head.

"Yes, T.K." Mr Horn yawned, rubbing his eyes. "And they were afraid because someone had sent Hiroaki a letter."

"Saying what?" Tai asked.

"Saying that the writer of the letter knew what Hiroaki was, and knew that he was in love with Susamu, and that he would tell everybody about them if they didn't go to the gym that night."

"What?" The whole room exploded into uproar.

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"What did they do?"

"They didn't go, did they?"

"Did they tell their parents?"

"Easy, calm down." Mr Horn said, waving everybody away. "You didn't know, Yuuko, because they made me swear – they made me _swear_ – not to tell anyone. No matter what. They couldn't tell anybody. And imagine what would have happened to them if it had gotten out back then. They would have been slaughtered."

"…so they went." Tai said.

"Yes, they went. And they…they wouldn't let me go with them." He choked, irritated. His eyes were glossy. "They wouldn't let me help them, or go with them, or tell anybody. They only wanted one thing from me."

"The drawing." Yamato said.

"Yes. They wanted to stay happy, and together, forever." He said. "Their words exactly. So I drew them sitting in the sun, having a conversation. That way they could live forever, no matter what happened to them that night. They were so, so brave."

"And what did happen that night?"

"The worst."

"It was Mr Iwati?"

"Yes. He led the boys there, and when they came in he locked the doors behind them." He shook his head, agitatedly. "And there was somebody else there too."

"Who?"

"Susamu told me that it was a girl…" Mr Horn took in a deep breath. "Haru beat her. Badly. He beat her in front of them, and they couldn't do anything to stop him." He waited for a moment. "That was your Mom, Yamato. That was Nancy."

Yamato didn't reply. He simply stared, stony faced, at Mr Horn, begging with his eyes for the man to continue. So he did.

"Haru left her where she fell, and then he turned on Susy and Hiro. He beat them within an inch of their lives. I tried to help them. Tried to make them feel better, to help them heal. I told them to get the police involved, or their parents. But they wouldn't let me do anything."

"…what happened then?"

"Hiro befriended Nancy, and tried to fall in love with her." He explained. "He tried for days. He tried so, so hard. But he couldn't. So he said he was going to run away with her and figure out how to fall in love afterwards."

"And my Dad?" Tai asked, quietly.

"He was hurting over it, but they agreed that it was for the best." Mr Horn said, almost tearing up. "Susamu did his best to fall in love with his best friend, Yuuko, and then they got married and had a wonderful pair of children." Mrs Yagami continued to look down at the table. "Hiroaki and Nancy did the same. They had two wonderful children, and I even had the pleasure of babysitting those children sometimes. Hiro trusted me with them more than he trusted himself. He was slowly losing his mind as time went on, and he could feel it."

"Over time I lost contact with the Ishidas. Nancy didn't trust me – she never did. And after a while she managed to convince Hiro that I was bad for her kids. They didn't let me babysit anymore." He said, hopelessly. "I kept phone contact with you, Yuuko, and with Susy when I could, but even that started to dwindle. A lot of time passed by, and then I heard about what had happened between you and your father, Tai, and I heard that he went to jail. So I…I visited him."

"You visited him? And you never told me?" Mrs Yagami asked, appalled.

"What could I have said to you, Yuuko?" Mr Horn tried, pleadingly. "You wouldn't have accepted the fact that I needed to see him after what had happened, because you didn't see what I could from my perspective."

"Because you never had the respect to tell me what had been happening."

"They made me promise."

"And some promises you have to break!"

"I know that now. But it's a little late to be figuring it out." He replied. She looked away with tears in her eyes. "I wanted to remind him of everything that had happened, and ask him why he would place the same trauma onto his son that he himself had received all those years ago. I wanted him to come clean. To make things right."

"It was too late for that." Mrs Yagami said, absently running a finger along the thing scar on her face: the scar that her husband had given her.

"Better late than not at all, Yuuko." Mr Horn retorted. "He was my friend. Even after all this time, he was my friend. And he needed looking after. He needed someone to force him to make things right, and to be there for him when everything went wrong. I tried to help him. But…seeing me made a lot of his pain come back to the surface, and he didn't know how to deal with it. I guess he began drinking again once he got out of jail – that was the only way he had ever known how to deal with his pain - and that must have led to his following you here to Odaiba."

At that, a buzz sounded throughout the house. Mrs Yagami looked out of the kitchen window at the front gate, and wiped her eyes. "It's the police. I'll go let them in." She said, leaving the kitchen. "Oh, and Kari. Would you please take yourself and T.K. up to your room? It might be easier if you're not down here."

"Ok…" Kari conceded, getting back to her feet.

"I don't get what just happened." T.K. said, frowning.

"Race you there!" Kari shouted abruptly, sprinting out ahead of the boy. T.K., temporarily forgetting his confusion, followed at a speedy pace, leaving the kitchen silent once more.

"Dad's dead, isn't he?" Tai eventually uttered, clutching hold of the old, orange blanket beside him as tightly as he could.

"Yes, Tai." Mr Horn nodded his head, sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Is it my fault?" Tai asked, almost inaudibly.

"Tai…" Mr Horn began, gently placing a palm over the boy's shoulder. "…please don't blame yourself for what happened. Your Dad he…he died a long time ago, really; with Hiro at his side." A small tear leaked from the man's eye as he spoke, and trailed down his cheek. "They both died back when they were just teenagers. Back when they were bright, and bold; clever, and hopeful; reliable, and sincere; back when they were friendly, and loving. They both died a long time ago, Tai, back when they were happy. And you didn't have a single hand in it."

"…what's gonna happen now?" Yamato asked, stroking Tai's hair.

"I don't know, Yamato. I just don't know."

"Yamato Ishida?" A police officer said, quietly stepping into the room. She looked over at the blonde. "Do you remember me?"

"Oh, no…" Yamato said, shaking his head.

"Yamato…"

"Please, no. Don't!" He cried. "Don't say it!"

"Say what?" Tai asked, looking at the woman. His Mom stood behind her with a grim expression plastered across her face.

"Yamato…I understand that this must be hard for you."

"No!" He screamed. "This isn't_ fair_!"

"What is it, Yama?"

"Yamato, your father came so close to pulling through." The officer said, staring softly at the blonde. She took off her hat. "But…I came as soon as I heard. I'm so, so sorry. He didn't make it."

* * *

For an uncounted amount of time Tai remained in the kitchen, alone, after everybody else had disbanded.

Yamato, having been informed of his father's death, had ran upstairs and hidden himself in Tai's bedroom. He hadn't made a sound since.

Kari and T.K., mostly oblivious to what had been going on around them, were still playing together in Kari's bedroom. T.K. hadn't been told about his Dad yet.

Mr Horn and Mrs Yagami, having moved to the living room to discuss everything that had come to light today, were arguing about the many secrets that Mr Horn had kept hidden. Tai thought that they were just being petty.

He felt alone, and now more than ever he wanted to go and see his Dad. To talk to him, and say everything that he should have said out there in that storm. But hospital procedure said that he couldn't right now, apparently.

He supposed that he would have to wait for the funeral, then, before he could say what was on his mind.

Not that he would get a response.

"Tai?" Mr Horn asked, walking into the kitchen. "What are you doing in here all on your own?"

"…"

"Are you holding up ok?"

"…"

"I suppose that was a stupid question, wasn't it?" He smiled, slightly, and sat down next to the brunette. "Your mother has gone upstairs to see how everybody is doing."

"Do you want to know how I'm doing?"

"Yes, Tai. Of course I do."

"Ok…" Tai said, fumbling about with his fingers. He felt so, so cold today. It hadn't occurred to him that he was still wearing wet clothes. "…I've never felt so b-bad in my life."

"I know, I know…" He said, taking Tai by the hand. "You're really cold, Tai. You should probably go and get changed."

"After everything that's happened…" Tai started, ignoring Mr Horn's suggestion. "…do you think Dad was good, in the end? Or bad?" He raised his gaze to look at the adult.

"Well…I'd suggest that you try not to think of him as either good or bad, Tai. Not everything is so simple." Mr Horn said, gently. "There was a reason behind your father's actions. Whether it was a good enough reason to excuse what happened between the two of you, though, is entirely up to you to decide." He stopped for a moment, before adding. "And don't you let anybody else decide that for you."

Tai nodded, and squeezed the man's hand tighter.

"Your Dad was a great guy, but he never learnt to fight his demons. And he never learnt to get over what happened to him in the past." Mr Horn explained. "Try to go right where he went wrong, and someday you'll make it past all this…dude."

"Dude?" Tai said, taken aback.

"What, you…don't like the ring of it?" Mr Horn smiled.

"No, it just might take a bit of getting used to, Michael." Tai laughed, through a quiet sniffle. "I'm gonna go upstairs now. Y'know, and see how Yama is."

"Ok, Tai. Take care of him."

"I will." He nodded. "Thanks for talking with me."

"Anytime."

At that, Tai exited the kitchen. Each step that he took felt sodden, and made a small squelching noise. Water was leaking from his socks. "Maybe I should get changed…" Tai pondered, heading past his soaking wet schoolbag, which currently resided on the entrance hall floor, and up the staircase. As he went, he could hear his Mom talking to Kari and T.K above him. They were laughing. It seemed that she still hadn't told T.K. about his dad yet. Maybe she was going to leave that part to Yamato. He wondered if Yamato would be able to handle such pressure.

Yamato. He was probably going to try and argue with Tai as soon as he opened his mouth, the brunette thought. He seemed to do that kind of thing a lot when he was feeling vulnerable. Lash out, close off, and blame himself for all the bad in the world. Tai understood, of course. He felt like doing the exact same thing right now.

But he couldn't because he had to take care of his Yama.

And he was going to.

He opened his bedroom door, and entered. "Yama, you here?"

"Don't talk to me."

"I love you."

"…what?"

"Erm…whoops?" Tai said with a hand held partially over his mouth. He was blushing. "That just kinda slipped out there, didn't it?"

Yamato looked at him for a few moments, his eyes softening slightly, before he shrugged and sat down on the bed with his face turned in a different direction. "Whatever. This isn't the time, Tai."

"Ok. Good." Tai said, sitting down next to the blonde. "I know you don't want to talk - and you don't have to. I just wanted to check on you."

"Fine."

"Good." Tai sighed, standing back up. He headed towards the balcony doors, limping ever so slightly, and opened them tentatively. It was still raining very heavily outside. He took a few steps forward, oblivious to the confused look that Yamato was sending him.

For the second time that day, Tai felt the rain pounding down against his huge head of hair. And for the second time that day, the rain helped to wash away some of the sadness, and the fear, that was trying to swallow him whole. He smiled. And then he laughed, quietly.

There was, in his mind, so much wrong with everything. There was so much hate, and so much of it was inexplicable, and unreasonable. And he had convinced himself that, whilst he was proud of who he was, he was always going to have to hide from life because of the hate that lingered within it.

But after hearing what had happened to his father, and to Yamato's father, when they had been forced to hide what they were once proud of, it showed him that hiding wasn't going to change things for the better.

So he wasn't going to hide. He wasn't going to be afraid of who he was, or what had happened to him in the past. He was going to come to terms with it all. Maybe not now; and maybe not soon. But he was going to. And he was going to be proud.

"Tai, you're nuts." Yamato said, nervously stepping out into the rain. "Come on inside, we can get you into something dry."

Tai nodded. "Ok. But it looks like you're all wet, too. Maybe we should get you out of those clothes…"

Yamato gulped, nervously.

"C'mon." Tai said, taking his boyfriend by the hand and leading him back inside. Yamato closed the balcony doors behind him. "I have some more clothes you can change into…or would you rather change into pyjamas?"

"I…I don't know." Yamato mumbled, trying desperately hard not to stare at Tai as he pulled away and undressed. The task was proving very difficult.

In mere seconds the brunette had slipped his shirt off over his head, and slipped out of his pants. He left the discarded clothes where they fell. "Geez, my socks have been leaving wet footprints everywhere..." Tai moaned, looking around. He pulled those off, too, working carefully around his hurt foot.

"Uuuh…" Yamato started, incredibly aware that Tai was stood in nothing but his powder blue briefs.

"What's up, dude?" Tai said, tilting his head to the side. The blonde had an odd look in his eyes. "You can't spend the night in those wet things. You'll get ill. C'mon, I'll help you get changed if you want."

"No…I, uuh…" Yamato tried, blushing slightly. He looked more uncomfortable than Tai had ever seen him before. "You need to look away."

"Why?"

"Because I, uuh…" He tried, shifting his feet on the spot.

"What?"

"I have a little…problem, Tai."

Tai still looked confused for a moment, but then his gaze found its way below Yamato's waist. The brunette grinned. "A little problem?" He grinned, staring shamelessly at the blonde's crotch. "I'd say you have a big problem, dude."

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Yamato frowned.

"I was going for a compliment, Yama..." Tai smiled back. "It's ok. You don't need to feel awkward around me."

Tai moved over to the blonde with a smile and helped him pull the blue hoodie over his head, revealing the thin, pale body beneath. "I don't like people looking at me, Tai..."

"Why not?" Tai said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend from behind.

"Because I'm…look at me." He whimpered, gently tracing a finger over one of the bruises on his torso. "I'm horrible…"

"You're beautiful." Tai whispered into the blonde's ear, delicately. "Ok? And don't let anybody convince you otherwise."

His hands moved lower, and his fingers wrapped around the waistband of Yamato's sweatpants. He slowly pulled them all of the way down to his ankles.

"Doesn't it feel better now, Yama?" Tai said, appreciatively looking the blonde up and down. "You're all dry."

Yamato delicately tossed the sweatpants across the room with his feet. "Yeah, I am." He turned around to face the brunette, who by this point had his own big problem growing in his underwear, and leaned in to kiss him.

"You taste like tears, Yama."

"You too, Tai."

"I wanna make you happy." The boy said, kissing Yamato on the nose. "I don't want you to ever have to cry again."

"And I don't want you to ever have to cry again, either." Yamato replied. He moved his hips the slightest inch forward and, with a quiet thrill, felt his erection press softly against Tai's. "When you do have to, though, I want to be here with you."

"Yeah?" Tai said, leaning into Yamato.

"Yeah. You're good at making everybody else feel better, Tai. But you need somebody who's good at making you feel better." He let his hand run down Tai's warm, tanned back, and onto his cushy bottom. He gently caressed one cheek.

"Even after everything today…" Tai said, kissing Yamato all over his face. "…you somehow make me forget everything bad that's happened."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Tai sniffed, placing his head in the nook between Yamato's neck and shoulder. "When I'm with you it's like…it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. I'm so damn sad right now, Yama, and I'm so confused. But you make it all go away."

"I know." Yamato soothed. "I feel the same, Tai."

"You do?"

"I do." He nodded. Tai pulled his head back, and looked the blonde straight in his watery, bright blue eyes. Yamato smiled. "And this feels really…good, Tai. It feels really good."

"It feels right." Tai nodded, smiling through his fresh set of tears. He pulled away slightly, and let his hand wonder down Yamato's chest ever so slowly. "…can I?"

"Y-yeah." Yamato responded. Tai's hand continued its journey downwards, and quickly reached the bulge in Yamato's boxers. The blonde let out a shaky breath at the touch.

"Does it feel…good?" Tai asked, quietly.

"Let's find out." Yamato whispered. He let his hand carefully slide from its place on Tai's butt cheek to the protruding, fabric covered member in front of him. He took hold.

"Can I come in?" Mrs Yagami said from behind the door with a quiet 'knock, knock'.

"N-no!" Tai yelped, pulling away from Yamato's touch. "We're getting dressed!"

"Oh…ok then. I'm going to go downstairs to talk with Michael, alright? If you need me, or us, or…" She stopped, and sighed. "We'll be downstairs."

"Thanks Mom."

"Thanks Mrs Yagami." Yamato added, his voice an octave higher than normal.

The pair stared at each other nervously, with smiles steadily growing on their faces. "That was a close one."

"Yeah, it was."

"So…" Tai said, taking a step towards the blonde. Yamato raised his eyebrows. "…where were we?"

* * *

The next day came along with a sudden, unlikely heat wave, and Tai woke up to it in the early afternoon. He looked out of his window, groggily. "Wha…?" He pulled the covers away and rolled out of bed. "…what time is it?"

He was confused to find that, when he looked around, there was nobody else in the room with him. "…Yamato?" Tai asked, looking around.

"Hey, is anyone here?" He asked, opening his bedroom door.

"Hi Tai." T.K. answered, walking out of the bathroom. His face was streaked with tear trails.

"Hey, T.K. Where is everybody?"

"They're all downstairs."

"Thanks…are you ok, dude?" Tai said, getting down on one knee so that he could look at the younger boy face to face. His eyes were wet.

"No." He mumbled. "I found out about my…Dad. H-he's…"

"I'm…" Tai said, shaking his head. He took the boy in a hug. "…I'm so sorry, T.K. If there's anything I can do for you that'll help, just ask."

"Ok." He replied. "I think I just need to be a-alone for a little while."

"Alright T.K. Just remember that we're all gonna get through this together. Yeah?"

"Yeah, o-ok." He nodded. "You should put on some pants."

Tai looked down, confused, and found that he was still in his underwear. "Uh oh…yeah, ok dude. I'll get right on that." He smiled, and headed back into his bedroom to get dressed. He had barely enough time to pull on his favourite star shouldered t-shirt and khaki pants before Yamato came rushing into the room, smiling widely. "You look unusually happy, Yama."

"I am. I have a surprise for you, Tai. Come on, you need to come downstairs!" With that, the blonde left the room again in a flash.

"Geez, lay off the happy pills…" Tai laughed, following in Yamato's wake.

When he had made his way downstairs, he found that Yamato was sat at the sleek, black piano in the entrance hall. There were sheets of paper all over it.

"I finally added words to that song, Tai." Yamato smiled, looking over at his boyfriend. "I played it for you the day we met, remember? And I asked you to help me with it."

"I remember." Tai smiled. "But I don't remember being all that helpful."

"Yeah, well…you were. You were the key part, really. It's kind of about you."

Tai beamed. "Sing it for me?"

"I'm going to, but first…I want to ask you to forgive me, Tai."

"For what?"

"For being such a mess." He sighed. "I've been pushing you away when all you've ever done is held me close. I've got my share of problems, but I'm getting over them." He pulled his finger across all of the piano keys in a stream of sound, and smiled. "I wrote this for you, to make up for being such an idiot."

"I love you, Yama."

"I love you too, Tai."

And with that, Yamato began playing that familiar piece of music that he had shown Tai all those days ago. It was slow, and melancholic; and it was light. And then Yamato began to sing.

_"One boy's lost life;_

_At his father's hands it was sliced clean._

_He hoped to never look back,_

_For anything."_

Yamato sang, slowly, swaying left and right ever so slightly as he went.

_"He found his way,_

_Dropped in a world of broken dreams:_

_A city doubting what its fears,_

_Could really mean."_

Tai stared at his love, open mouthed. Had Yamato really managed to turn his life into a song? "No…way…" Tai exhaled, staring at the blonde in admiration as he continued to play keys up and down the piano.

_"One night ice cold,_

_Turned into something yet unseen:_

_A rising sunlight in the arms,_

_Of his everything."_

"Are you talking about the morning we got together…?" Tai wondered, smiling. Yamato ignored him and continued.

_"He found his path:_

_A journey back to where he'd been._

_There raged the monsters of his past,_

_Torn at the seams."_

Suddenly, Yamato picked up the pace of the piano playing and it became fuller, and more energetic. It built to a head, and the musician opened his mouth to sing with far more power than Tai had ever heard from him before.

_"And in the waking light, of his return to might,_

_That boy he found it all, a million stories tall._

_And in his happiness he was sad as could be._

_'cause he could not possess, the one thing he could see."_

Tai's eyes were wide, and his jaw hung low. The piano playing slowed to almost a stop.

_"It could never be."_

Yamato reverted back to his original melody for the verses, and continued it again. T.K. and Kari made their way downstairs, quietly, and observed unnoticed.

_"That boy sought peace,_

_In the troubled lives of lesser needs;_

_And as he held his hope high,_

_Dropped everything."_

Michael and Yuuko came and stood together in the doorway of the kitchen, taken in by the beautiful performance. Yamato's audience was totally silent.

_"But he was strong;_

_And everything was never gone._

_They battled far to find their light,_

_Before too long."_

Like before, Yamato picked up the pace of his fingers. But this time around there was a bouncier, happier edge to it. It was hopeful. His voice raised up, suddenly, for an astoundingly high note.

"_That boy shined bright!_

_And unaware of falling tears,_

_He finally found that there was more,_

_To family than fear."_

Yamato looked at Tai and their eyes met. He grinned, and took in a huge breath for his next knock out note.

"_And in good time!_

_He grew beyond what he could be;_

_And with his everything in sight,_

_Lived happily."_

The fuller, more energetic melody returned again, and pushed the song through to the final chorus. Tai felt weak in the knees all of a sudden. Yamato's voice crashed about the hall, mightily.

_"And in the waking light, of his return to might._

_That boy he found it all, a million stories tall._

_And in his happiness, he held his only need._

_At last he would possess the one thing he could see."_

"Woah." Tai whimpered.

_"The one thing he could see, would always b-e!"_

"He's gonna remember us when he becomes famous, right?" Mr Horn whispered to a widely grinning Mrs Yagami.

"Oh, would always b-e!"

"Yamato loves Ta-i." T.K. quietly taunted, smiling at his brother.

_"Would always b-e!"_

Yamato pushed; pitch perfect, before finally beginning to lower his voice.

_"Would always…"_

The song slowed down, and hit its final few notes.

_"…be."_

The room immediately burst into mad applause at the final word. The adults were laughing gleefully, the two children on the stairs were cheering, and the two teenagers, Matt and Tai, were staring into each other's eyes like love struck bunnies. "I want to kiss you."

"Go ahead." Yamato smiled. He barely had enough time to stand up from the piano before Tai had jumped onto him, wrapped his legs around his waist, and commenced passionate kissing. Yamato didn't complain. The cheering in the background just got louder.

* * *

When Mr Horn entered the living room, he found Yamato sitting on the couch with Tai perched comfortably on his lap. They were both staring attentively at the T.V.

"Hey, guys." He said, smiling. "Are you two doing ok?"

"We're getting there, Michael."

"Yeah." Tai agreed, nodding. "How are you coping?"

"Oh, you know…" He shrugged, sitting down beside them. "I've got news about your mother, Yamato."

"Really?" He said, trying to sound indifferent. He looked back at the T.V.

"She's going to be transferred to a clinic."

"What kind of clinic?" Yamato asked.

"A mental health clinic. Preliminary tests seem to suggest that she's in a dire situation." He sighed. "She's been self-medicating with alcohol since she was a teenager. It's affected her thought process pretty badly."

"Is that supposed to be an excuse?" He asked, turning to look at the man.

"No, just an explanation." He offered. "I know this is a rough area for you, but do yourself a favour and think about visiting her once she starts to get a little better."

"What?"

"I'm not saying you have to, or anything." Mr Horn assured. "I just mean that you should think about it. She is your mother, after all."

"…is she going to be charged with anything?"

"She'll probably get manslaughter and drink driving, but it will only add to her time at the clinic, I would think."

Yamato nodded, and looked back at the T.V.

Mr Horn sighed.

"Ok, everyone." Mr Horn said, smiling. The evening had rolled around, and everybody – T.K., Kari, Tai, Yamato and Mrs Yagami – was in the living room. They had gathered for a special occasion. "I've been waiting to do this for a long, long time."

"Let's get the show on the road." Tai smiled, looking around at his mother. She smiled back, but looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Alright, here we go…" Mr Horn smiled. He picked up an expensive picture frame and, very carefully, he placed it on the windowsill. Inside the frame was the ink drawing of Susamu Yagami and Hiroaki Ishida. They were sitting in the sun, happily, and holding hands.

"It looks great." Yamato nodded, smiling at the sight.

"Dad looks really young." T.K. and Kari said together.

"Jinx!" They added.

"I said it first!" They argued.

"No, I said it first!"

"I said it first!"

"Coffee?" Mr Horn offered, taking Mrs Yagami by the hand.

"Please." She laughed, getting to her feet and walking with him to the kitchen. They left the bickering children behind them.

When the arguing eventually subsided, Kari stood up and moved to where her brother was standing with Yamato, admiring the picture. She took a look at it. "They look really…happy."

"They do, Kari." Tai said, putting an arm around her. He looked over at Yamato, and grinned. "They really do."

From the corner of her eye, Kari thought that she could see two young boys through the window, sitting in their sunlit garden. They were holding hands, and they were beaming at each other. Kari leant forward to get a closer look, but when she did the boys had gone. She laughed to herself.

She would very much like to draw the pair into her notepad, later.

* * *

The night came by quickly, and it saw Tai and Yamato sat out on the balcony in chairs that they had borrowed from the kitchen. It was still very warm outside.

"Hey guys, are you doing ok?" Mr Horn said, appearing from inside Tai's bedroom. "Your Mother is wondering if you want any hot chocolate."

"Sure, we'd love some." Tai smiled.

"Great, I'll go tell her."

"Er…Michael? Wait a minute." Tai said, calling the man back. "Can you come back and sit with us? Just for a moment? I was…I want to ask you something."

"Ok, Tai." Mr Horn said, moving to stand beside the brunette. "What is it?"

"The gym teacher who did all this. What was his name…? Haru Iwati?"

"Yes, that was his name."

"Did he get away with it?" Tai asked, painfully. "Did he get away with everything that he did?"

"I hate to say it, but…yes. He did. I've been searching for him for the last few years, and I can't find a trace of him." Mr Horn conceded, sitting down on the floor beside the pair. "The police won't take me seriously, either, without proof or witnesses. And right now I lack both."

"Is he…is he ever going to be caught for what he did?"

"Yes, Tai. We're going to get him one day." The man nodded, sternly. "As soon as he shows up back on the radar, I'll force a confession out of him."

"Do you think…do you think my Mom could be a witness?" Yamato asked, unsteadily.

"If we can get her well enough in the head, then it's a possibility."

"Right." The blonde nodded.

"Something else on your mind, Yamato?"

"Y-yeah." Yamato stuttered, looking over at the man. "I think I wanna see her. Maybe she'll get better faster if I help her to…"

"You're both amazing boys, you know that?" Mr Horn smiled, tenderly. "Your fathers would be proud of you."

At that, Mr Horn stood up and exited the balcony, quietly, leaving Tai and Matt to wrestle with their tangled thoughts, as they held each other hand in hand. The stars were bright in the sky above them. Not a twinkle was out of place.

* * *

Well, there we have it everybody. There's going to be an epilogue sooner or later to round off the story for a few of the other characters, and to fill in a few of the gaps, but for all intents and purposes...this is the ending. I hope you all liked it.

When the epilogue comes around I'm going to share a few things: some fun facts about the story, my personal thoughts on it, and a nice thank you/goodbye message for everyone who has stuck around. For now, though, all I can say is that you'll probably be hearing from me shortly.

All the best. MrGooseyMoose.

P.S. Don't forget about Nanowrimo! November, the annual writing month, is almost upon us! :)


	11. Epilogue

**Welcome back everybody!**

**The epilogue is finally here. Now, as you probably already know, the following content isn't overly important. I only intend to tie up a couple of ends, include a couple of taito scenes, and leave it at that.  
**

**You have my sincere apologies for taking so long to write this. For something so small, and so insignificant, it seems like an unreasonable wait to have forced upon you. I'm very sorry.**

**If you find that the wait has been so much that you've forgotten what happened, you could always just go back and re-read the other ten chapters, most of which have been smoothed out and edited and re-written, you know...if you felt like it. **

**LOL! CAN YOU IMAGINE? THAT'S OVER 50,000 WORDS! XD**

**Funny stuff. Basically, if you've forgotten what's happened so far then it doesn't really matter. You'll be ok, I'm sure. **

**I hope you enjoy the epilogue!**

* * *

Yamato held his left hand in his right and looked down. He could hardly believe it. He was here. He was really, really here, sitting opposite his mother on some moth eaten armchair in her new psychiatric ward. What was there to say now?

"You think this place will make me better?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Mrs Ishida mimicked with a scoff.

"Maybe." Yamato confirmed.

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I'll make you better."

She scoffed again and turned to face him. He was still staring at his feet. "Yamato. When did you grow up so?"

He looked up at her, but didn't reply.

"Whatever." She shrugged.

"You don't think you need to get better?"

A third scoff. She almost smiled at the question. "No. Well, Maybe."

"Maybe." Yamato's frown almost broke. "It wouldn't make a difference what your answer was though, I guess. You're here either way. And you're going to be here for a while."

"Whatever." She shrugged, again.

"When did you become such an angsty teenager?"

"When did you become such an overbearing adult?"

He stared at her. "One of us had to."

"Yamato." She stared back into his icy eyes with a pair of her own. "I don't see why you insist on this back and forth if you only mean to argue with me."

"Arguing is an important step."

"Did my doctor tell you that?"

"No. She didn't." He shrugged. "I thought it up on my own. I want to help you. To make you better. But I don't like you, and I still have a lot of issues to get over. We're probably going to argue a lot until I do get over them, so it's an important step to work through. To help me through my issues."

"Issues?" She smirked. "What issues do you have to get over?"

Yamato unbuttoned his shirt. Most of his bruises were gone by now, but there was still one, faded purple mark near his right shoulder.

Mrs Ishida's jaw tightened. "I never touched you. Never."

"But you didn't stop Dad from doing it."

"He was in control of his own actions."

"That's a lame excuse and you know it." Yamato began to re-button his shirt with a scowl. "Besides, he was never in control of himself. Not really."

"What do you want from me Yamato?"

"I want to see it – in your eyes, right now – that you regret what happened. To me, to T.K. I want to see it in your eyes that you're sorry."

"You know." She half mumbled. "We all have our baggage."

"Don't change the subject."

"And we all have our reasons for acting, or for not acting, when we're supposed to." She continued, looking at her own feet now. "I made mistakes. And maybe I was in control of them. Maybe. But..."

"Yes?"

"Forget it."

Yamato looked back at his own feet, mirroring his mother. He wasn't sure what he had really sought from her today, or what he would be seeking from future trips. Comfort? Closure? All things that would never come. All that waited for him here was fractured conversation, heated arguments and silence. Fixing his mother didn't seem worth the effort it took, if it was even possible at all.

Nonetheless, they needed her to get better. Of course they did. They had a case to fill out after all. The only witness to Haru Iwati's atrocities was Yamato's mother. She was the only one who could get the ball rolling for them. And maybe she couldn't bring her son closure, or comfort; but she could help them to take down a criminal who destroyed three children so many years ago, and escaped to tell the tale. If only she would _talk_.

"I'm glad you came." She interrupted his thoughts with a surprisingly soft growl. "And I know I don't seem it."

"Yeah. You don't."

"You're my son. I'm always glad to see you. Especially now. I've not..." She paused. "...I've not had any other visitors. I guess no one else cares to see me. Or no one is left who does, anyway."

"You're wrong, Mom." Yamato shook his head. "T.K. wants to see you. He just needs time. And Michael wants to see you, too."

"He's a stupid man, that Michael." She shook her head. "But any company is good company, as they say."

"Why do you say he's stupid?"

"He has a stupid way of doing things. He wants to change the world with nothing but that big mouth of his." She smirked. "The stuff he used to spout to me and your father when he would babysit you was absurd. He was..."

"Yes?"

She smirked. "He was a good man, you might say. But he was a stupid man. We were better off without him around."

"You're wrong."

Mrs Ishida looked to be considering something silently for a moment. The smirk on her face began to lower. "Hiroaki used to say the same thing."

"Dad liked Michael." Yamato nodded.

"He did. A little too much if you ask me." She rolled her eyes. "He treated Michael like a saviour."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She laughed quietly and waved a hand at her son, throwing down the question. "Forget it."

There it was. Forget it. How was he ever going to get anywhere with him if she ignored his questions so explicitly?

"Did you know that Dad was in love with another boy when he was a teenager?" Yamato tried, tilting his head. Surely this would bring out something. Anything.

"You...?" She stopped, eyes wide. "...you know about that?"

He nodded.

"I suppose I can't deny it, can I? Yes, he liked a boy once. A boy called Susy." She smiled again. "A bit of a girly name if you ask me."

"You didn't care that Dad was...?"

"He wasn't. He was just dabbling. So many of us used to."

"Us?"

She pursed her lips and continued to examine a fingernail.

"Did you, as well?"

"Forget it."

"Don't tell me to forget it!" Yamato rose to his feet. "Be honest with me here. Just try. I took the time to come along all this way to see you, and I've even arranged future visits. I'm gonna keep coming back for you. So you can at least be straight with me when I do."

She looked up at him for a moment, and swallowed almost unnoticeably. "Yes. I suppose I dabbled a little as well."

"And what happened?"

"I was taught a lesson. I learnt it well."

"Haru." Yamato placed a hand on his mother's shoulder and tightened his grip. "Haru taught you a...a lesson. That's right, isn't it?"

"How do you...?"

"Mom." Yamato bent down and looked her in the eyes. "Be straight with me here."

"I..." She halted, and for the first time Yamato thought that he might be able to see that fabled regret, and maybe even that remorse, there in her sparkling eyes. Almost. She swallowed again. "...I'm sorry. I don't know anybody by that name."

"You. You don't...?"

"I don't. I'm sorry, Yamato. I'm..." A small tear leaked from the side of her eye, and fell for forever alongside her cheek. "Please just leave me alone."

Yamato rose back to his full height, frustrated, and let go of his mother's shoulder. "Fine. I'm leaving."

"I..."

"What?" Yamato stopped on his way towards the door and looked back at her. "You what?"

"I...look forward to your next visit." She nodded. "Don't stay away for too long. Ok?"

"Right." Yamato answered, and left the room without another word, his own tear making its way steadily down his face.

* * *

"So what happened, Michael?" Mrs Yagami asked, sitting down opposite him at the kitchen table. He placed a mug of coffee in front of her, and moved to drink from his own.

"More than expected."

"What did you expect?"

"Nothing."

The two of them sat silently and drank from their cups. They could hear the slight sounds of the children playing together somewhere within the house.

Mrs Yagami smiled.

"What is it?"

"Don't you think it's neat? Or, maybe funny is the word...?"

"What?"

"Well, I think it's neat."

"What is Yuuko?" Michael laughed, placing his coffee down softly. "What's neat?"

"That, somehow, after everything that's happened, the six of us have picked up the pieces of our lives and found a home here." She bent her head over her mug and laughed. "It sounds silly, I know. To be saying this. But it is! It's really..."

"Neat." Michael nodded. "I know."

"Do you think they're getting over it?"

"The kids? Yes. They're-"

"Strong. I know." She smiled, knowingly.

"I guess I use that line a little too often. I'm becoming predictable."

"I suppose so." Mrs Yagami stretched a hand out and placed it atop Michael's.

Together they continued to drink their coffee, smiles and light conversation upon their lips the whole while.

* * *

"So what happened, Yama?"

"More than I expected."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah."

"So, tell me about it. Did she talk about...him?"

"No."

"Oh." Tai's eyebrow lowered again.

"But when I mentioned his name there was this moment. You know, she reacted to it. I think she remembers but...she tried to pretend otherwise."

"Maybe she's trying not to remember." Tai took hold of Yamato's hand. "I mean, who would want to keep hold of a memory like that?"

The pair of them fell silent, and they watched as T.K. and Kari continued to play monsters across the room from them. It appeared that Kari was winning.

"Did you find out why he...you know. Did what he did to her?"

"She was...dabbling."

"Dabbling?"

"Dabbling." Yamato nodded. "With some other girl, I guess. I think she said Haru taught her a lesson for it. That's all I got out of her. But for all I know I could have misunderstood what she said."

"Oh."

Their eyes fell to their siblings again. T.K. had pinned Kari to the ground with his hands, and had a victorious look on his face, when suddenly a human blur dived from beside the couch and collided with the blonde boy, knocking him to the floor.

Daisuke had returned from the bathroom, it seemed. He had been dropped off for the day by his parents so that he could hang out with his new best friends. And apparently attack them all day. Tai wasn't entirely sure about the inner mechanics of their games.

"I win." Daisuke grinned down at the friend that he had just pinned.

"Nu uh." T.K. argued.

"Ya huh!"

"Nu UH!"

"Ya HUH!"

"This is getting a little loud." Tai scratched his head.

Yamato sniggered. "You think we should go now?"

"Yeah. It's about time anyway."

"Ok." He nodded. "C'mon guys, we're going."

"Yaaaaaaaaaay!" They cheered together, back on their feet in an instant. They all ran out to put on their shoes.

"But if I have to carry even one single bag for her, Yama..." Tai motioned in the air with his hands. "...even one single bag, I'm gonna go crazy."

* * *

Mimi led the way through the mall at a marching pace, with her ragtag group of friends hobbling closely behind her.

"M-Mimi." Tai groaned, carrying an unsteady tower of multi-coloured shoeboxes in front of him. "We must have been to every shoe shop in the whole mall by now."

"Well it doesn't hurt to double check."

"More like triple check..." Yamato mumbled, carrying his own wobbling tower of shoeboxes in front of him. "We're going in circles."

"Oh c'mon guys, it's not so bad." Sora said cheerily, carrying a large pink shopping bag in each hand.

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You weren't tricked into c-coming here." Joe heaved, his arms trembling with the weight that was being forced upon them.

"She lured us here with promises of soccer balls." Tai whimpered.

"And new C.D.s." Yamato sighed.

"And ice cream." T.K. moaned.

"Well, I did get you ice cream eventually." Mimi laughed, stopping to look back at the group. "Come on guys, put some back into it."

"If we ever make it out of this place alive..." Yamato quietly panted, with sweat dropping down from a perfect, blonde strand of hair. "...I'll kill her."

"I'll help you..." Tai added, gently rubbing a tentative shoulder against his boyfriend's. "...hide the body."

"On second thoughts." Sora interjected, speaking out against Mimi after overhearing the rambled threats of her two friends. "We could probably just use a _little _rest. We'd be able to work better that way."

"You know what? You're right Sora. Nice thinking." Mimi smiled. "Come on everybody, let's take five over here."

"Yay!" Daisuke cheered, hopping up and down.

"Why are you cheering?" Kari giggled. "You've not even been carrying anything, lazy."

"Nu uh!" He argued. "I was carrying T.K.'s ice cream earlier.

"I didn't ask you to! And you ate it all!" T.K. retorted.

"It just looked so tasty..."

"Y'know, it's sad that Izzy didn't want to come along with us." Sora said, talking above the bickering children.

Joe nodded. "Yeah."

"We could have used the extra hands..." Yamato mumbled.

The group eventually made their way towards a nearby coffee bar and put their bags down. The crowds around it were humungous, and buzzing with noise.

"Yeah. But at least we can rest no-"

At Tai's voice a boy jumped out from behind the crowd, coffee cup in hand, and sprinted towards him. His smile reached from ear to ear. He was visibly shaking.

"T-T-T-T-TAI!"

"Hey! Takashi, what's up?" Tai beamed.

"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-"

"Take a deep breath dude."

"-nothing, Tai. What's up with you?" He took another sip from his coffee. "What's with all the shoes?"

"Don't ask."

"Yaaaaamato!" Takashi abruptly exclaimed, spotting the blonde through his own tower of boxes. "You're here too?"

"Yeah, I'm here too. How's it going?" Yamato asked. "Still struggling to kick the caffeine?"

"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-"

"Deep breath."

"-n-no, this is just a pick me up." At that he latched onto both Tai and Yamato and squeezed them together. Their boxes toppled to the ground with a cluttered crash.

"TAKASHI!" A group of voices called out from the crowd. The startled boy let go of his friends and turned around, to find his two bands mates heading in his direction.

"Now I'm gonna get it..."

"Damn right you are. You can't go bothering our star on his own time." Akira scolded, fists clenched at his side. "And look what you've done!"

"I'll see you guys later!" Takashi smiled before sprinting away into the distance with a lengthy giggle, his friends hopelessly chasing in hot pursuit.

The group hooted and snickered at the on-going antics, all except for Mimi, who was somewhat distracted by the pinkish wave of shoes that were currently littering the floor around her. "Hmm..." She pondered, rubbing her chin. "...maybe I _did_ buy too many."

Tai, cheery over the wild smile on his boyfriend's face, took hold of Yamato's hand and squeezed it tight. Bright blue fell into bold brown, and their smiles only grew wider.

"You know. I think you guys should hold hands like that more often." Sora interjected, dropping her bags so that she could ruffle Tai's head of hair with one hand, and stroke Yamato's skinny shoulder with the other. "You look really happy when you do."

"Well, yeah." Yamato laughed, looking over his shoulder at her. "But I thought you said we'd just attract unwanted attention if we held hands in public."

"Yeah. You're right." She nodded. "I did say that."

Tai tilted his head over his own shoulder, his smile begging to burst from his face. "But…?"

"But." She continued, grinning at the brunette cheerily. "After everything that's happened lately, it occurred to me. Who cares?"

Tai nodded at that and turned back to his Yamato. That blonde boy was growing more and more joyful as every day went by, and though there were still issues that were yet to be resolved, he could feel it in his heart that Yamato was finally strong enough to deal with them. And that strength made Tai strong, too. They had found a family within each other, and within everyone around them. A family that was no longer a source of fear, or pain, but a source of comfort. Everything, through the good and the bad, and through the everything in between, had somehow fallen into place.

*The End*

* * *

**Some final author's notes…**

I'm going to come clean here. When I began this fic, and when I wrote chapters one to four, I didn't have any real idea, at all, as to what this story was going to be about. The story plan didn't appear in my notes until chapter five.

Erm…whoops?

Now, to all those people who stuck with this story regardless of its very shaky, shambling beginnings: your patience, and your good wishes, gave me the confidence to improve over time. Therefore, I am totally in your debt, as is this story. If you hadn't been so kind to me then _There's More To Family Than Fear _would never have reached its end. Thank you.

**Listed below you will find a few extras, explanations and general fun facts about the story:**

Mr Horn is based on my favourite teacher in the world, Michael Horner. In reality he teaches English Literature and Film Studies, not Art. He doesn't know that he is an integral character in one of my fanfiction stories. He probably never will.

Kari displays certain psychic abilities throughout this story. She draws a picture symbolising upcoming hardships, she has premonitions, she sees a flash of ghost Mr Yagami and ghost Mr Ishida, etc…and you know what? There is no explanation whatsoever as to why she can do this. I didn't plan for it to happen. It just did.

Yamato's star patterned boxers are based on a real pair of boxers that I am acquainted with in real life. You see, I have a very special someone in my life who just so happens to have a very special pair of star patterned boxers that I enjoy ogling. This was kind of a throw in for him.

For those asking: I wrote the song in Chapter Ten specifically for this story. In a stroke of complete originality, note the sarcasm there, it is called _There's More To Family Than Fear_.

I was initially reluctant about including Tai and Matt's sexual scenario, considering everything that had gone on only hours before they got frisky with each other. But then something occurred to me. When you're sad, or angry, or anxious, or upset, or distraught, sometimes being horny can make those feelings disappear just for a little while. Oh, and I left it up to you to decide exactly what the pair did after Mrs Yagami interrupted them. Personally I would like to think that their emotions came back to them and they decided to cuddle up and go to bed together, eventually crying themselves to sleep in each other's arms. But y'know, if you wanna imagine that Tai got dominated that night, or vice versa, then hey - I ain't gonna stop you!

Someone mentioned that they didn't understand Haru's motivations for what he did to the children all those years ago. I never intended to touch this issue, originally, but I feel that I may as well answer it for everybody whilst we're all here. Here goes.

This whole story has been about the realisation that everybody has some motivation, or reason, for doing all of the shitty things that they do, and that sometimes you'll just have to get over what they do without knowing what, exactly, those reasons are. Now, in the case of Tai and Matt, they found out what their parent's motivations were because, well, they were their _parents_. It was only inevitable that they would someday understand them; but the odds of them learning the intricate motivations behind the adult that abused their parents, when said parents were just children? I can't see that happening, so I didn't have it happen. That's all there is to it.

The one thing you need to take away from this, I suppose, is that Haru probably had his reasons for what he did, just like Susamu. You don't need to know what those reasons were, though. You just have to get used to the fact that you won't always learn why someone is, for lack of a better word, a dick.

**It looks like that's everything.**

**Thank you so very, very much for your time, everybody. I'll miss you.  
**

**Wishing you all the best!**

**Lots and lots and lotsa love, MrGooseyMoose.**


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